JUST or ONLY?
What the difference between JUST and ONLY?
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JUST or ONLY?
What the difference between JUST and ONLY?Hi Tiago.
'Just' can generally have two meanings:
1. recently - e.g. 'I just ate a sandwich 5 minutes ago'.
2. small amount - e.g. 'There's just one slice of bread left. We need to buy some more.'
'Only' can replace 'just' in the second example, but not the first.
If you say 'I only ate a sandwich' you mean that you believe one sandwich is a small amount.
So, 'just' has 2 basic meanings, while 'only' has 1.
Hope that helps!
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Sometimes either word can be used with the same meaning. For example:
1a. I need just one more thing from you.
1b. I need only one more thing from you.
But each word has several different meanings, and the words are not always interchangeable. For example:
2. I just finished speaking to my father.
3. This table is for paying customers only.
You cannot use 'only' in 2 and you cannot use 'just' in 3.
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Hmm, this is not a difficult question to answer, but a long one as there are many meanings for "just" and "only".
You can refer to these two websites to see their definitions and sample sentences:
JUST http://www.dictionary.com/browse/just
ONLY http://www.dictionary.com/browse/only
As you can see, there are some similarities (like "only this"/ "just this") and some differences (like just can be involved in rights and justice "a just verdict", while only is often used to single something out or to distinguish something apart from others "I only love you").
Look through the websites and if you have anymore questions, you only have to ask! (or just ask) :)
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