剛 meaning and stroke order
Hard, strong, tough; just, barely
How to write 剛, stroke by stroke
10 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 剛
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- (literary) hard; firm; strong
- exactly; precisely
- barely; only just
- just; only a short while ago
How 剛 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Knife.
刂 gives the meaning and 岡 hints at the sound.
Radical: 刂 (knife), shared by 71 characters on this site.
How to remember 剛
剛 is built from 岡 (gāng, ridge) on the left, which gives the sound, and the knife radical 刂 on the right, which hints at the meaning. Picture a blade hard enough to cut through a rocky ridge: that is something firm and strong.
In everyday speech 剛 (simplified 刚) is mostly an adverb meaning "just" or "only a moment ago," placed before the verb. The "hard, firm" sense survives mainly in set words like 刚毅 (gāngyì) and 金刚 (Jīngāng). Example: 我刚到家。(Wǒ gāng dào jiā.) I just got home.
Common mistake: Learners often confuse 剛 with 鋼 (gāng, steel), which has the metal radical 金 instead of the knife 刂. Both are read gāng in the first tone, so check the radical to tell them apart.
Common words with 剛
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
Questions about 剛
How many strokes are in 剛?
剛 is written with 10 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 剛 mean?
剛 (gāng) means hard, strong, tough; just, barely. A common word with it is 刚才 (gāngcái), meaning "just now; a moment ago".
How do you pronounce 剛?
剛 is pronounced gāng, in the first tone (high and level).
What is the radical of 剛?
The radical of 剛 is 刂, which carries the idea of "knife". Dictionaries list 剛 under this radical.
What is the simplified form of 剛?
剛 is a traditional character. Its simplified form is 刚, used in mainland China and Singapore.
What is the difference between 刚 (gāng) and 刚才 (gāngcái)?
刚 is an adverb that goes right before the verb and can describe something recent in a relative sense, like 他刚来一年 (he came just a year ago). 刚才 is a time word meaning "a moment ago" and can go before the subject, as in 刚才你去哪儿了? It only refers to the very recent past.
How do you use 刚好 (gānghǎo)?
刚好 means "exactly" or "just right," often for amounts or timing that fit perfectly. For example, 这双鞋刚好 (zhè shuāng xié gānghǎo) means these shoes fit just right. It can also mean "happen to," close to 刚巧 (gāngqiǎo).