刚 meaning in English
(literary) hard; firm; strong; exactly; precisely
Meaning of 刚
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- (literary) hard; firm; strong
- exactly; precisely
- barely; only just
- just; only a short while ago
How to use 刚
In everyday speech 刚 is an adverb before a verb meaning "just" or "only just", showing something happened a short time ago or barely reached a point. Example: 我刚到家。(Wǒ gāng dào jiā.) I just got home.
刚 has 冈 (gāng, ridge) on the left for sound and 刂 (the knife radical) on the right. Picture a hard, firm blade cutting into a rocky ridge, which links to the old meaning of hard and strong.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 刚 and 刚才. 刚 goes right before the verb and cannot start a sentence, while 刚才 is a time word that can. So say 刚才他来了 (gāngcái tā lái le), not 刚他来了.
刚 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
刚 gāng · hard · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 刚.
Questions about 刚
What does 刚 mean?
刚 (gāng) means "(literary) hard; firm; strong; exactly; precisely" and is used as a adverb.
How do you write 刚?
刚 is made of 1 character: 刚 (6 strokes). That is 6 strokes in total.
Is 刚 an HSK word?
Yes. 刚 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 刚 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 刚 is written 剛.
What is the difference between 刚 and 刚刚?
They mean almost the same thing and both go before the verb. 刚刚 (gānggāng) sounds a bit more emphatic or casual, like "just this very moment".
How do I use 刚好 in a sentence?
刚好 (gānghǎo) means "exactly right" or "just in time". For example, 这件衣服刚好 (zhè jiàn yīfu gānghǎo) means "this piece of clothing fits just right", and 我刚好有空 (wǒ gānghǎo yǒu kòng) means "I happen to be free".