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Speaker 1: Have you ever noticed how often Native speakers use the

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word just. It's a small word, but it shows up

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everywhere in everyday conversation, like I just finished lunch, or

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I was just asking, or maybe I just think this

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might work, or even the phrase just saying that little

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word just helps make English sound more natural, softer, and

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more conversational. But the interesting thing is that just doesn't

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always have the same meaning. Depending on the situation, just

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can show time, minimize something, or soften what we're saying.

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So for today's podcast English Lesson, we're going to look

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at several very practical ways that Natives speaker use the

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word just in everyday English. And once you start noticing it,

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you'll realize Native speakers use just all the time.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you, Janin. Thanks everyone. It's Michael here

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from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode oneenty twelve Practical

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uses of just in everyday English. Let's start with one

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of the most common uses of just, and that is

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to talk about something that happened very recently when we

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use just like this, we're talking about something that happened

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a short time ago. Say you text a friend to

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see what they're doing. They might reply with I just

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got home. That means she arrived a little while ago.

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Or in the office, if a coworker asks if you're

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ready to go to lunch, you might say, actually, I

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just finished lunch. That means you finished a short time ago.

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Here's another example. Maybe you're waiting for a friend and

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they text you asking where you are. You might reply,

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I just got here. In American English, we often use

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the simple past with just like I just finished or

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I just got here, even though textbooks sometimes teach the

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present perfect. Either way, the idea is the same. Just

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shows that the action happened very recently. Another practical use

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of just is when we want to minimize some thing.

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In these situations, just makes what we say sound smaller

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or lighter or less serious. Like maybe you call a

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friend in the evening and they sound surprised to hear

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from you. You might say, oh, I was just calling

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to say hi. In that situation, just helps show that

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the question is not a big deal. Here's another example.

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At work, the boss might ask you why you walked

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into their office, you might say, I just wanted to

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ask a quick question. This word just helps make the

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action sound simple and casual. Or when you're in a

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shop and the salesperson asks if they can help you,

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you might reply, ah, thanks, but I'm just killing time.

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In all of these situations, just helps make the action

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sound smaller or less important. Another common use of just

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is to soften what we say. In English, we often

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use words like just to make our statement sound less

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direct and more polite. Like you might be giving relationship

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advice to a friend. Instead of saying you should try

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calling her again, you might say, I just think it

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might help if you try calling her again. The word

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just helps make the suggestion sound gentler. Or when you're

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at work and you want to suggest an idea, but

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you don't want to sound too strong or pushy, you

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might say something like I just think this idea might work.

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The word just softens the opinion. It makes it sound

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more conversational. Here's another example. When you're confirming plans with

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a friend, you can say something like, I just want

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to make sure we're meeting its seven at the Sushi

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Place on twenty ninth Street right again, just softens the

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statement and makes it sound more polite. Here's another place

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you'll hear just all the time, and that's when people

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explain their intentions. Like imagine someone walks into your office

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and you ask why they came by. They might say, oh,

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I was just checking to see if you're free. The

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word just helps show that the person is not trying

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to interrupt or cause trouble. Here's another example. Maybe someone

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sends you a text message and later on follows up

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with another message, saying, I was just making sure you

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saw my text. In these situations, just helps make the

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explanation sound friendly and casual rather than demanding. And finally,

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another interesting way we use just in conversation today is

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in the phrase just saying. Native speakers often use just

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saying when they want to make a comment, suggestion, or criticism,

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but they don't want to sound too direct or serious,

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and we tend to use just saying at the end

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of a sentence. Like if you and your friend are

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choosing a restaurant and your friend suggests a place that's

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always crowded, you might say something like that place is

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always packed on Friday nights, just saying. In other words,

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you're pointing out a possible problem, but you're doing it

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in a casual way. Here's another example. Imagine someone at

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work suggests finishing a big project in one day. A

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coworker might respond that might take longer than a day.

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Just saying. The speaker is sharing an opinion, but the

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phrase just saying softens the comment and makes it sound

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less confrontational. And sometimes people even use just saying after

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a slightly critical or sarcastic comment, like if a friend

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keeps arriving late, someone might joke and say, you know,

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the movie started twenty minutes ago, just saying. In this situation,

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the speaker is pointing out something obvious, but using humor

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to keep the conversation light. And here's another funny everyday situation.

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Imagine you and a friend order a large pizza, and

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your friend eats almost the entire thing. You look at

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the pizza box and say, you know, there were eight

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slices of pizza in that box, just saying. In this case,

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you're pointing out something in a playful or slightly sarcastic way. Okay,

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let's recap. Native speakers use the word just in several

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practical ways in everyday English. First, we use just to

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talk about something that happened very recently. I just finished lunch.

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We also use just to minimize something or make it

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sound less important. I was just asking. Next, we use

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just to soften opinions or suggestions. I just think this

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might work. We often use just when explaining our intentions. Oh,

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I was just checking to see if you're free. And finally,

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we use the phrase just saying at the end of

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a sentence when we make a comment or point out

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something in an indirect or sometimes sarcastic way, like Jack,

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the meeting started ten minutes ago. Just saying. It's a

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small word, but it makes your English sound much more

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natural and conversational. Try using just or just saying in

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your English conversations this week, and keep in mind the

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best way to remember English like this and any other

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word or phrase in English, is to take that word

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or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true for

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you or true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Hey,

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thanks for listening, and remember learning another language is not easy,

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but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you

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on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English Leads

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visit Myhappy English dot com. Show your support for Happy

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English by leading us a review. Get English, Get Happy,

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Happy English.