How to say “just now” in Chinese

刚才

gāngcái

just now

noun · HSK 3 · topic “Seasons and time”

“Just now” in Chinese is 刚才, gāng cái: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke and examples.

How to pronounce it

刚才 is read gāng cái: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.

gāng — 1st tonehigh and level, like a long note

cái — 2nd tonerising, like a surprised “huh?”

How to write it

刚

gāng — just now; hard

On the right, 刂 “knife”.

才

cái — only; talent

Strokes go in order: top to bottom and left to right, horizontal before vertical. Tap a character to open its page, with the strokes shown large and the words it appears in. To train your hand, print a handwriting sheet for “刚才”.

Examples

Sentences from the course lessons with 刚才. Tap the sound icon to listen.

刚才谁来了？gāngcáishéiláileWho came by just now?
刚才刮了一阵大风gāngcáiguāleyízhèndàfēngA strong gust of wind just blew through.
刚才那辆车开得太快了！gāngcáinàliàngchēkāidetàikuàileThat car just now was going way too fast!

More words from the lesson “Just now”

Look up another word in the Chinese–English dictionary: in English, in pinyin or in characters.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say “just now” in Chinese?

“Just now” in Chinese is 刚才, pinyin gāngcái.

What does 刚才 mean?

刚才 (gāngcái) means “just now”.

How do you write 刚才?

刚才 is 2 characters: 刚 (gāng) — just now; hard; 才 (cái) — only; talent. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.

How do you pronounce 刚才?

刚才 is read gāngcái. Tones: gāng — first tone, cái — second tone. The page has a native speaker recording.

“just now” in the lesson “Just now”

This word is from the topic “Seasons and time” of HSK 3. In the lesson you hear it in a dialogue, build a sentence with it and say it out loud. Start for free, no sign-up needed.

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