The word ĵus in Esperanto means "just", but is it used in the same way as it is in English? In English, you can say; I just want some pizza, where just has the same meaning as only. However, you can also say He just arrived which refers to the time when he arrived. Can the Esperanto word also be used like this, or not like this at all?
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2 Answers
From Vortaro:
ĵus
Cirkonstanca morfemo, signifanta "momenton antaŭ nun" aŭ "antaŭ tiam.
A circumstantial morpheme, meaning "a moment before now" or "before that time".
Examples:
- The sixth hour just struck.
ĵus batis la sesa horo - I just talked about that.
ĝuste pri tio mi ja ĵus parolis - I just spoke with the boss.
mi ĵus parolis kun la mastrino
With regards to "I just want some pizza", the word you are looking for is (among other definitions):
nur
Partikulo uzata antaŭ subst. sen determinanto kvanta, por signifi "neniu", "nenio alia ol".
A particle used before a noun without a quantitative determinant to mean "no one", "nothing other than".
Examples:
- Left foolish, returned only older.
forveturis malsaĝa, revenis nur pli aĝa - You only need to follow me.
vi bezonas nur sekvi min - I want to walk only with you.
mi deziras promeni nur kun vi
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I personally prefer "simple" instead of "nur" but that works too. Commented Sep 15, 2016 at 4:17
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2@ClaytonRamsey Nothing wrong with that but when I imagine myself sitting on my couch, craving some pizza, I just see myself saying, "Ve, mi nur volas (mangxi) picon!" :P– makisCommented Sep 15, 2016 at 4:20
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1@Ella And another translation of English "just" is "justa" which means "just" like a just judge, in the sense of "fair". And then there's "ĝuste", which means "just" in the sense of "exactly", as in "I mean just that!" As you can see, "just" is a very broad word!– kristanCommented Sep 15, 2016 at 7:11
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Ĵus applies to time. For your example, it would be "Li ĵus alvenis." However, ĵus does not apply to "merely." For the other example, you should say, "Mi simple deziras iom da pico."
