就
jiù
就 says there is no gap between the two
The picture Two dots pushed flat against each other. Nothing has slipped in between: no waiting, no condition, no other option. At the same eight o'clock, 就 says already and 才 says not until: 就 is two dots pressed together, 才 is a long blank laid out between them.
Where the picture shows up in 就
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no gap before arriving
我马上就到。
wǒ mǎshàng jiù dào
I will be there any second.
You put the receiver down and the doorbell goes off in the same breath.
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a shorter gap than expected
他八点就来了。
tā bā diǎn jiù lái le
He was already here by eight.
The sheet says nine o'clock, and there he already is, sitting in the eight o'clock slot.
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no gap between if and then
你去我就去。
nǐ qù wǒ jiù qù
If you go, I go.
The moment your foot clears the threshold, my shoes are out the door too.
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no room for another option
我就要这个。
wǒ jiù yào zhège
This is the one I want.
The finger running along the shelf makes no other stops and comes straight down on one item.
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no gap between learning and doing
学了两天就会了。
xué le liǎng tiān jiù huì le
Two days of practice and he has already got it.
Only the first two pages of the textbook are dog-eared, and the hands already move without a hitch.
At the same eight o'clock, 就 says already and 才 says not until. The clock is not the measure; the speaker's expectation is.
All of it in one picture
The doorbell in the same breath as the receiver is no gap before arriving; a nine o'clock slot filled at eight is a gap shorter than expected. Your foot and my shoes leaving together is no gap between if and then, the finger landing straight on one item is no room for another option, and hands already fluent after two dog-eared pages is no gap between learning and doing. Five pictures, and in each one nothing managed to slip between the two dots. Stop translating 就 as soon and read it as nothing in between, and the fourth use stops being a separate word.