How to say “just barely” in Chinese
just barely, just now
“Just barely” in Chinese is 刚刚, gāng gāng: the meaning, a recording of how it sounds, the characters stroke by stroke.
How to pronounce it
刚刚 is read gāng gāng: 2 syllables. The tone is part of the word: with another melody you get another word, or just a jumble of sounds.
How to write it
On the right, 刂 “knife”.
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 “刚刚”.
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 barely” in Chinese?
“Just barely” in Chinese is 刚刚, pinyin gānggāng.
What does 刚刚 mean?
刚刚 (gānggāng) means “just barely, just now”.
How do you write 刚刚?
刚刚 is 2 characters: 刚 (gāng) — just now; hard. The stroke order of each one is shown step by step on this page.
How do you pronounce 刚刚?
刚刚 is read gānggāng. Tones: gāng — first tone, gāng — first tone. The page has a native speaker recording.
“just barely” 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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