Justis a common adverb in English, especially in speaking. It has different meanings.
Justmeaning ‘simply’ or ‘absolutely’
We can usejustmeaning ‘simply’ or ‘absolutely’ to add emphasis to a statement:
It’sjustnot right.
Our holiday wasjustperfect.
Justmeaning ‘exactly’
You lookjustlike your sister.
Can you put your signaturejusthere?
Justmeaning ‘only’
His first pay cheque wasjustfifty pounds.
[in a clothes shop]
A:Can I help you?
B:No, it’s all right, thanks. I’mjustlooking.
Justand expressions of time
Justcan mean ‘recently’ or ‘a very short time before or after speaking’:
Where’s my phone? I had itjustnow.
Could you wait for me? I’mjustgoing to the shop.
We often use the present perfect or past perfect with this meaning ofjustwhen we refer to a short time before the moment of speaking:
I’vejustdecided to sell my apartment.
I’m on my way to the station. Their train hasjustarrived.
Justfor emphasis
We also usejustto emphasise an imperative:
Justshut the door quickly or we’re going to be late.
See also:
Imperative clauses (Be quiet!)
Justto soften expressions
We usejustin speaking to soften what we say, especially in requests:
Could youjustopen the window?
I wasjustwondering if I could speak to you about Anna?
See also:
Hedges (just)
Requests