Speaker 1: Have you ever noticed how often Native speakers use the
word just. It's a small word, but it shows up
everywhere in everyday conversation, like I just finished lunch, or
I was just asking, or maybe I just think this
might work, or even the phrase just saying that little
word just helps make English sound more natural, softer, and
more conversational. But the interesting thing is that just doesn't
always have the same meaning. Depending on the situation, just
can show time, minimize something, or soften what we're saying.
So for today's podcast English Lesson, we're going to look
at several very practical ways that Natives speaker use the
word just in everyday English. And once you start noticing it,
you'll realize Native speakers use just all the time.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you, Janin. Thanks everyone. It's Michael here
from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode oneenty twelve Practical
uses of just in everyday English. Let's start with one
of the most common uses of just, and that is
to talk about something that happened very recently when we
use just like this, we're talking about something that happened
a short time ago. Say you text a friend to
see what they're doing. They might reply with I just
got home. That means she arrived a little while ago.
Or in the office, if a coworker asks if you're
ready to go to lunch, you might say, actually, I
just finished lunch. That means you finished a short time ago.
Here's another example. Maybe you're waiting for a friend and
they text you asking where you are. You might reply,
I just got here. In American English, we often use
the simple past with just like I just finished or
I just got here, even though textbooks sometimes teach the
present perfect. Either way, the idea is the same. Just
shows that the action happened very recently. Another practical use
of just is when we want to minimize some thing.
In these situations, just makes what we say sound smaller
or lighter or less serious. Like maybe you call a
friend in the evening and they sound surprised to hear
from you. You might say, oh, I was just calling
to say hi. In that situation, just helps show that
the question is not a big deal. Here's another example.
At work, the boss might ask you why you walked
into their office, you might say, I just wanted to
ask a quick question. This word just helps make the
action sound simple and casual. Or when you're in a
shop and the salesperson asks if they can help you,
you might reply, ah, thanks, but I'm just killing time.
In all of these situations, just helps make the action
sound smaller or less important. Another common use of just
is to soften what we say. In English, we often
use words like just to make our statement sound less
direct and more polite. Like you might be giving relationship
advice to a friend. Instead of saying you should try
calling her again, you might say, I just think it
might help if you try calling her again. The word
just helps make the suggestion sound gentler. Or when you're
at work and you want to suggest an idea, but
you don't want to sound too strong or pushy, you
might say something like I just think this idea might work.
The word just softens the opinion. It makes it sound
more conversational. Here's another example. When you're confirming plans with
a friend, you can say something like, I just want
to make sure we're meeting its seven at the Sushi
Place on twenty ninth Street right again, just softens the
statement and makes it sound more polite. Here's another place
you'll hear just all the time, and that's when people
explain their intentions. Like imagine someone walks into your office
and you ask why they came by. They might say, oh,
I was just checking to see if you're free. The
word just helps show that the person is not trying
to interrupt or cause trouble. Here's another example. Maybe someone
sends you a text message and later on follows up
with another message, saying, I was just making sure you
saw my text. In these situations, just helps make the
explanation sound friendly and casual rather than demanding. And finally,
another interesting way we use just in conversation today is
in the phrase just saying. Native speakers often use just
saying when they want to make a comment, suggestion, or criticism,
but they don't want to sound too direct or serious,
and we tend to use just saying at the end
of a sentence. Like if you and your friend are
choosing a restaurant and your friend suggests a place that's
always crowded, you might say something like that place is
always packed on Friday nights, just saying. In other words,
you're pointing out a possible problem, but you're doing it
in a casual way. Here's another example. Imagine someone at
work suggests finishing a big project in one day. A
coworker might respond that might take longer than a day.
Just saying. The speaker is sharing an opinion, but the
phrase just saying softens the comment and makes it sound
less confrontational. And sometimes people even use just saying after
a slightly critical or sarcastic comment, like if a friend
keeps arriving late, someone might joke and say, you know,
the movie started twenty minutes ago, just saying. In this situation,
the speaker is pointing out something obvious, but using humor
to keep the conversation light. And here's another funny everyday situation.
Imagine you and a friend order a large pizza, and
your friend eats almost the entire thing. You look at
the pizza box and say, you know, there were eight
slices of pizza in that box, just saying. In this case,
you're pointing out something in a playful or slightly sarcastic way. Okay,
let's recap. Native speakers use the word just in several
practical ways in everyday English. First, we use just to
talk about something that happened very recently. I just finished lunch.
We also use just to minimize something or make it
sound less important. I was just asking. Next, we use
just to soften opinions or suggestions. I just think this
might work. We often use just when explaining our intentions. Oh,
I was just checking to see if you're free. And finally,
we use the phrase just saying at the end of
a sentence when we make a comment or point out
something in an indirect or sometimes sarcastic way, like Jack,
the meeting started ten minutes ago. Just saying. It's a
small word, but it makes your English sound much more
natural and conversational. Try using just or just saying in
your English conversations this week, and keep in mind the
best way to remember English like this and any other
word or phrase in English, is to take that word
or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true for
you or true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Hey,
thanks for listening, and remember learning another language is not easy,
but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you
on your journey.
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