只要…就 · 只有…才 — 只要…就 “as long as”, 只有…才 “only if”
Pattern: 只要 A 就 B · 只有 A 才 B
只要 A 就 B — A is enough: 只要努力，就能学好 “as long as you work hard, you’ll learn it”. 只有 A 才 B — without A there’s no B: 只有多练习，才能说得好 “only with lots of practice will you speak well”.
Examples
| 1 | 只要努力，就能学好。 zhǐyào nǔlì jiù néng xuéhǎo As long as you work hard, you can learn it. |
| 2 | 只有多练习，才能说得好。 zhǐyǒu duō liànxí cái néng shuō de hǎo Only with lots of practice will you speak well. |
| 3 | 只要你喜欢，就买吧。 zhǐyào nǐ xǐhuan jiù mǎi ba As long as you like it, buy it. |
A common mistake
- ✕ Wrong:
只有多练习，就能说得好。→ ✓ Right: 只有多练习，才能说得好。
Explanations and examples by Zitou. Pinyin added automatically and checked.