The adverbs 就 jiù and 才 cái are placed right in front of the verb and indicate a new action. 就 jiù indicates that the action has happened at the expected time or earlier than expected. 才 cái indicates that the action has happened later than expected.
他 | 去 | 年 | 就 | 来 | 了 | 。 |
tā | qù | nián | jiù | lái | le | _ |
he | go | year | right now | come | particle | _ |
he, him, other | last year | just, right away, go with | come, happen, connection-word | grammatical particle of time | 。 | |
As expected, he has already come during the past year. |
他 | 怎 | 么 | 才 | 来 | ? |
tā | zěn | me | cái | lái | _ |
he | how | suffix | talent | come | _ |
he, him, other | how?, howcome?, why? | ability, only then | come, happen, connection-word | ? | |
Why hasn't he come yet? |