Adverbs with logical function: 也 yG, 都 dDu, 还/還 hái, 就 jiù, 只 zhH, and 才 cái 15.2
When 才 cái is used to link two verb phrases as in the following sentences, it may be translated
as ‘only then.’她做完了功课才睡觉。
她做完了功課才睡覺。
Tā zuòwán le gōngkè cái shuì jiào.
She finishes doing her homework and only then goes to sleep.
那本书我看了两次才懂。
那本書我看了兩次才懂。
Nà běn shū wǒ kàn le liǎng cì cái dǒng.
That book, I read it twice and only then understood (it).C42.2.2.2
才 cái never follows negation.In sentences with 才 cái, perfective 了 le does not occur in the main clause.15.2.7 而已 éryH ‘and that is all’
In Taiwan, the sentence final expression 而已 éryǐ ‘and that is all’ is commonly used to reinforce
the sense of only contributed by 就 jiù, 只 zhǐ, and 才 cái.
我只有五块钱而已。
我只有五塊錢而已。
Wǒ zhǐ yǒu wǔ kuài qián éryǐ.
I only have five dollars (and that is all).他就写了一个字而已。
他就寫了一個字而已。
Tā jiù xiě le yī gè zì éryǐ.
He only wrote one character (and that is all).
The meaning ‘only if’ is expressed with the sentence initial phrase 除非 chúfēi.C45.4