"you just might be" vs "you might be just"

Question

Can anybody explain what’s the exact difference between “you just might be” and “you might be just”?

Context: I need to say a phrase like “you might be just drunk”, implying that the person might think of something, but their thoughts are just determined by condition they’re in

Is it the right way to say it? are there any better ways to say this?

The exact search for "you might be just drunk" returns 4 results and "you just might be drunk" returns 5, so i’m not sure if this construction even sounds right to a native

Answer 1

Just drunk is ambiguous, it can be misunderstood as only drunk (not high as well, for example).

You just might be has become less common than you might just be. Just likes to precede the word or phrase it intensifies or focuses on.

This (WritingTips) is not a reputable source, but it does explain the differences in meaning depending on how you place just and only in the sentence.

Put just and only in front (of what they modify)

1. They were just married when they fell in love. (not long ago)

2. They were married when they just fell in love. (They couldn’t help it, love was so strong that they simply fell in love.)

3. They were married just when they fell in love. (They were married at the same time that they fell in love.)

4. They were married when they fell just in love. (As you can see, this sentence has two different interpretations, because the position of just wasn’t chosen well, but also because just has different meanings anyway - only and simply.)