Just has several meanings:1 Time

When used to talk about time, just means 'very close' to the time in question:I'll be there in a minute. I'm just shutting the computer down. (= right now)I'm just going out to the post office. (= in a few minutes)

We can add after/before/when, to mean 'very soon after/before' the time in question:We started the meeting just after lunch.

We can also use just now to mean 'at this moment':Mr Beresford is not in just now. Would you like to leave a message?

It can also mean 'a few moments ago' if we are speaking in the past:We saw Jane and her brother just now.

2 OnlyWe can use just to mean 'only' or 'not more than':

Let's have dinner - just the two of us.This T-shirt was on special offer - just £5.00 - I couldn't resist.

In some cases, the meaning is similar to hardly/scarcely:We have just enough food for four days.

3 ExactlyIn British English, just is sometimes used to mean 'exactly':

Let's call Mark. He's just the man for the job.4 Emphasis

In spoken English you can use just to emphasize other words:The way they treated him was just awful. (= simply)The concert was just great. (I can't describe it in any other way)

Remember!When just means 'a few minutes ago', we use the following tenses:

Jim has just called. (present perfect)Jim just called. (past simple)

We can use just as ... as to mean 'no less than':She's just as intelligent as her mother.

The present perfect sounds more formal and is more commonly used in British English.Learning tipThink about your experiences over the last week or two and write at least six sentences in your notebook describing them. Try to use a different meaning of just in each sentence. For example: On Friday, I went to a concert which was just awful.

Uses of just Restricted uses