就 on the other hand, indicates that something happened earlier than expected. Think of it as the opposite to the first meaning of 才 小明5點就吃了晚飯 Xiaoming ate his dinner at 5pm 我的朋友22歲的時候就結了婚 My friend got married when he was only 22 我這麼早就出門了，還是遲到了 I left early but was still late 就 can also be used to express "only", although I feel it's less strong than when 才 is used. 我媽媽每天晚上就睡四個小時 My only only sleeps 4 hours a night 你這麼大的男人，就吃這麼一點飯？You're such a big guy, and that's all you're going to eat? 其他學生都寫滿了5頁，你就寫了一頁 All the other students wrote 5 pages, and you only wrote one Both 才 and 就 can be combined with 是. 就是 is used for emphasis that something is "exactly that one" (hard to explain). Sometimes it doesn't show up in the English translation (see ex 1), sometimes it's done with emphasis in speech (ex. 2), and sometimes it can be translated as just (ex 3). 那個人就是她的男朋友 That guy is her boyfriend 他就是你要找的人 It's him that you've been looking for (in English we'd emphasise him in speech) 你就是個笨蛋 You're just an idiot 就是 it also used for buying time when speaking when you forgot what you wanted to say/are thinking about how to phrase something. It's like "uh" in English. Only used in spoken Chinese. 然後就是... And, uh___ 他們...就是... They are, uh___

As grammar particles: 才 is used to show that something happened later than the speaker expected 我排了兩個多小時的隊才買到票 I queued for over two hours before I got a ticket 你怎麼現在才下班啊？How come you are only getting off work now? 這篇論文要花好幾個禮拜才能寫完 It's going to take me weeks to finish this essay 才 can mean "only" 我們有這麼多人，你竟才點了兩道菜 There are so many of us here and you only ordered 3 dishes 機票很便宜，才500塊錢 The plane ticket was cheap, it only cost 500 yuan. 我才來過一次 I've only come once before 才 can be used to express earliness in certain situations, and is often used together with 就 才6點，你怎麼起這麼早啊？It's only 6am, why are you up so early? 你才來上海沒多久就已經有心儀的人啦？You've not even been here for very long and you already have your eye on someone? (in the romantic sense) 你才畢業就已經拿到了這麼好的工作呀？You just graduated and already have a great job? 才 can be used for emphasis, this really strengths your tone and can sometimes come across impolite. Often used with 呢 我才不要呢！ Absolutely not! 我才不會呢！I am totally not going to do that 你才笨呢！You're the idiot! (Emphasising it's not me that's stupid) Both 才 and 就 can be combined with 是. 才是 means "it is only this (one) that really is___". Often used in conjunction with 只有 這才是地道的龍井茶 Now this is real Longjing tea (this is the real deal) 考上大學才是他唯一的出路 Getting into university is his only way out (of povety) 只有太陽的光輝才是永恆的 Only the light of the sun is eternal Used in 不是，才是 meaning "that isn't/wasn't, this is" 那不是刀，這才是刀啊！That's not a knife, this is! (Emphasising that the first item wasn't a knife, only the second is) 才是 can also be used at the end of the sentence for emphasis. This does come up, but not that often. It means like "you should really" 伊莎貝爾瘋了，應該把她關起來才是 Isabel's gone mental, we should really lock her up 這種雞鳴狗盜之徒，隨時都要留意他的一舉一動才是 With people who resort to petty tricks like him, we should really be keeping an eye on him at all time 這種不懷好意的人，你理當早一點疏遠他才是 You should have really distanced yourself from people harbouring evil intentions like him a long time ago

The most basic meaning of 都 is "all" or "both", there is no difference in Chinese 他們都在上海 They are all in Shanghai 這兩個人我都認識 I know both of them Emphasising many, often used with 很多, 大家 or just anything that encompasses a lot of things/people 現在很多人都有手機 Nowadays many people have phones 很多英國人都喜歡喝茶 Lots of British people like drinking tea 大家都來了嘛？Is everyone here? Used together with the "every" structure: 每個、每次、每天、每逢 etc. 我每天都跑步 I run every day 每一道菜我都喜歡 I like all the dishes To express everything used together with 甚麽 我甚麽都喜歡 I like everything 中國的歷史老師甚麽都知道 My teacher knows everything about Chinese history 你不應該甚麽話都和他說呀 You shouldn't tell him everything Used in the negative to express nothing 我甚麽也不喜歡 I don't like anything 我今天甚麽都沒做 I didn't do anything today 生病之後，媽媽甚麽酒都不能喝了 Mum can't drink anything (alcoholic) now she's unwell To express already 都21世紀了，他竟還那麼想啊？It's the 21st century, and he still thinks that? 這個電影你都看過了，挑個別的吧 You've already seen this movie, pick a different one Used with 總是/老是 and 一直 to mean always 桂林的風景總是那樣美麗宜人 The scenery in Guilin is always beautiful 中國的乒乓球水準一直都處於世界領先位置 China has always been the best at table tennis in the world Used with 從來 to mean "always" 他從來都這樣 He's always like that 我們對弈時，從來都是他贏 He always wins when we play chess Used with 連 to mean even. 也 Can be used instead. 連這麼噁心的東西他都吃啊 He even eats stuff this disgusting! 他很孤單，一個朋友也沒有 He's lonely, he doesn't have any friends Used with 誰 to mean everyone; with 哪裡 to mean everywhere; with 甚麽時候 to mean whenever; and with 怎麼 to mean however 誰都喜歡周杰倫的歌 Everyone like's Jay Chou's songs 他哪裡都去過 He's been everywhere 我甚麽時候都可以 I can do whenever 別人怎麼想都不重要 It's not important what other people think Used in一點都不 to express "not at all". Can be replaced by 也 這個問題一點都不難 This question isn't difficult at all 他講的話一點也不好笑 What he said wasn't funny at all Used with 全（部） to express all of something 全校學生 All of the students in the school 警察將那些歹徒全部都收拾掉了 The cops sorted out all the hoodlums