本就

běnjiù
adverb

Meanings

  1. 1 originally
  2. 2 all along
  3. 3 by nature
  4. 4 inherently

Examples

Tā běnjiù bù shàncháng shuōhuà.
He was never good at speaking to begin with.
Zhège wèntí běnjiù méiyǒu dá'àn.
This question never had an answer in the first place.
Wǒ běnjiù dǎsuàn jīntiān gàosù nǐ.
I was already planning to tell you today anyway.

Tips

usage
本就 = 本来, just compressed. It frames the predicate as something that was already the case, often with a tone of 'this isn't news'. Common in written and online speech.
memory
'root/origin' + 'already' → 'was already so from the root'. The order matters: doesn't exist.

Stroke Order

běn
jiù