Meaning of 刚才
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- just now
- a moment ago
- just now (variant of 剛才|刚才[gang1 cai2])
How to use 刚才
刚才 is a time word that points to a moment shortly before speaking. It can go before or after the subject, and it can also modify a noun with 的. Example: 你刚才说什么？(Nǐ gāngcái shuō shénme?) What did you say just now?
刚 (gāng) means "just" and 才 (cái) also carries a sense of "only just". Put two "just" words together and you get "just now, a moment ago".
Common mistake: Learners often treat 刚才 and 刚刚 or 刚 as the same in every sentence. 刚才 is a time noun, so you can say 刚才的电话 (the phone call just now) or 他刚才走了, but you cannot say 刚才的 in place of 刚 before a time span, as in 我刚来三天 (I only arrived three days ago).
刚才 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
才 cái · ability · 3 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
Related words
Words that share a character with 刚才.
| 刚刚 | gānggāng | just recently; just a moment ago |
| 才能 | cáinéng | talent; ability |
| 人才 | réncái | talent; talented person |
| 天才 | tiāncái | talent; gift |
| 刚好 | gānghǎo | just; exactly |
| 才华 | cáihuá | talent |
| 口才 | kǒucái | eloquence |
| 刚毅 | gāngyì | resolute; steadfast |
| 成才 | chéngcái | to make sth of oneself; to become a person who is worthy of respect |
| 金刚 | Jīngāng | diamond; (used to translate Sanskrit "vajra", a thunderbolt or mythical weapon) |
| 奴才 | núcai | slave; fig. flunkey |
| 鬼才 | guǐcái | creative genius |
Questions about 刚才
What does 刚才 mean?
刚才 (gāngcái) means "just now; a moment ago" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 刚才?
刚才 is made of 2 characters: 刚 (6 strokes), 才 (3 strokes). That is 9 strokes in total.
Is 刚才 an HSK word?
Yes. 刚才 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 刚才 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 刚才 is written 剛才.
Can 刚才 be used with 不 or 没 for negation?
Yes. Because 刚才 is a time word, negation goes after it: 我刚才没看见他 (Wǒ gāngcái méi kànjiàn tā), I didn't see him just now. With adverb 刚 this kind of negation does not work as naturally.
How long ago can 刚才 refer to?
刚才 usually means minutes ago, within the current situation or conversation. For something that happened days ago but still feels recent, use 刚 instead, as in 他刚结婚 (Tā gāng jiéhūn), he just got married.