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A2 Intermediate Aspects & Time

刚 (gāng): How to Say “Just” (a Moment Ago)

刚 (gāng) means “just” — something happened a moment ago. It's an adverb, so it sits right before the verb (我刚到 = “I just arrived”). 刚刚 is the same word, a touch more emphatic.

Why this trips learners up

Something happened a heartbeat ago — you just got home, the train just left. In English you reach for “just”, and in Chinese that's 刚 (gāng) (or its twin 刚刚, gānggāng — same meaning, a little more emphatic). 我刚到 = “I just arrived”.

The thing to internalise: 刚 is an adverb, not a time word. It welds itself right before the verb — 我刚回家, never 我回家刚, and never floating out at the front. It also powers a tidy second pattern: 刚 + verb + a duration tells you how long it's been — 我刚来三天 (“I just got here three days ago”), with no word for “ago” at all. One last thing: don't mix up 刚 with 刚才 (gāngcái), the movable time word “a moment ago” — that split is just below.

The structure

Subject 刚 gāng Verb
Colour key

Each colour marks one grammatical role — and the same colour means the same role on every page in the Lab.

Pattern Subject Verb Object Complement Time Place Question

Examples in context

Real-world sentences, easiest first. Toggle pinyin or the translation, tap any word to see its role, or play the audio.

Tap a word to see its grammatical role.

wǒ 我 Subject gāng 刚 Pattern huí 回 Verb jiā 家 Place

I just got home.

tā 他 Subject gāng 刚 Pattern chūqù 出去 Verb

He just went out.

huǒchē 火车 Subject gānggāng 刚刚 Pattern kāizǒu 开走 Verb

The train just left.

wǒ 我 Subject gāng 刚 Pattern hē 喝 Verb wán 完 Complement kāfēi 咖啡 Object

I just finished my coffee.

nǐ 你 Subject gāng 刚 Pattern qǐchuáng 起床 Verb ma 吗 Question

Did you just get up?

wǒ 我 Subject gāng 刚 Pattern bān 搬 Verb lái 来 Complement zhèlǐ 这里 Place yí gè xīngqī 一个星期 Time

I just moved here a week ago.

tā 他 Subject gāng 刚 Pattern xué 学 Verb Zhōngwén 中文 Object sān gè yuè 三个月 Time

He's only been learning Chinese for three months.

zhè jiā gōngsī 这家公司 Subject gāng 刚 Pattern chénglì 成立 Verb liǎng nián 两年 Time

This company was founded just two years ago.

Common mistakes

Avoid: 刚我看见他。 gāng wǒ kànjiàn tā.
Say this: 我刚看见他。 wǒ gāng kànjiàn tā.

Why it happens: 刚 is an adverb welded to the verb — it can't lead the sentence the way a time word can. “I just saw him” is 我刚看见他, not 刚我看见他. (For a “just now” that floats to the front, you want 刚才 — see the comparison below.)

Avoid: 我刚到这里一个星期以前。 wǒ gāng dào zhèlǐ yí gè xīngqī yǐqián.
Say this: 我刚到这里一个星期。 wǒ gāng dào zhèlǐ yí gè xīngqī.

Why it happens: The 刚 + duration pattern already means “just … ago”, so don't add 以前 (“ago / before”) on top: 我刚到这里一个星期, never …一个星期以前. The 刚 is doing the “ago” work for you.

Avoid: 刚的电话是谁？ gāng de diànhuà shì shéi?
Say this: 刚才的电话是谁？ gāngcái de diànhuà shì shéi?

Why it happens: 刚 only modifies verbs — it can't attach to a noun with 的. “The call just now” is 刚才的电话, not 刚的电话. The moment you want “the X from a moment ago”, you've crossed into 刚才 territory.

Compare & contrast

刚 — verb-hugging adverb (“just”)刚才 — movable time word (“just now”)The difference
我刚吃饭。wǒ gāng chī fàn.刚才我在吃饭。gāngcái wǒ zài chī fàn.我刚吃饭 welds 刚 before the verb (“I just ate”). 刚才我在吃饭 floats 刚才 to the front like 昨天 (“Just now I was eating”) — something 刚 can never do.
他刚打电话。tā gāng dǎ diànhuà.刚才的电话是他打的。gāngcái de diànhuà shì tā dǎ de.他刚打电话 = “he just phoned” (刚 + verb). 刚才的电话 = “the call a moment ago” (刚才 + 的 + noun) — only 刚才 can attach to a noun.
Rule of thumb刚 is an adverb welded to the verb (我刚到) — it can't move or take 的. 刚才 is a time word, “a moment ago”, that floats like 昨天 and can say 刚才的. The test: if you can swap in “a moment ago” and shuffle it around, it's 刚才; if it's “just [did something]”, it's 刚.

Try it yourself

Say “I just bought a phone” — tap the words into order.

Related patterns

已经…了已经…了 (yǐjīng…le): How to Say “Already”

刚's natural partner: 刚 is “a moment ago”; 已经…了 is “already, by now it's done”. Just vs already.

 一直一直 (yīzhí): “All Along,” “The Whole Time,” “Always”

一直 (“all along”) is another time adverb that sits right before the verb.

 总是总是 (zǒngshì): How to Say “Always”

总是 (“always”) — a fellow A2 time adverb, for a repeated habit rather than the immediate past.

 年月日How to Say Dates in Chinese (年 / 月 / 号)

Pin “just” to an actual date — here's how 年/月/号 work.

 在在 (zài): How to Say “Doing” (Present Continuous)

刚 just finished; 在 is still going — the immediate past against the ongoing present.

 以后以后 (yǐhòu): How to Say “After…” and “In the Future”

Two ends of the timeline: 刚 is “just now” (a moment ago); 以后 is “after” or “from now on”.

 以前以前 (yǐqián): How to Say “Before…” and “In the Past”

Both look back: 刚 is “just a moment ago”; 以前 is the broader “before / in the past / used to”.

 刚才刚才 (gāngcái): How to Say “Just Now” (and 刚 vs 刚才)

The pair: 刚 is the adverb “just” (verb-hugging, flexibly recent); 刚才 is the time noun “just now” — strictly minutes ago, movable, with 了.

 正好How to Say “Happen To” and “Just Right” with 正好 (zhènghǎo)

刚 is “a moment ago” (the immediate past); 正好 is “as it happens” — two things coinciding by luck.

 一下子How to Say “All at Once” with 一下子 (yíxiàzi)

Both colour a fast event: 刚 = a moment ago; 一下子 = a change that happened all at once (一下子就…了).

 差点How to Say “Almost” with 差点 (chàdiǎn)

Both narrate a close call: 刚才 sets “just now,” 差点 marks the bad thing you only just avoided.
Quick reference card
Merry Mandarin 刚 (gāng): How to Say “Just” (a Moment Ago) grammar.merrymandarin.com

A pocket summary — print it and keep it by your desk.

Structure
Subject + 刚 + Verb
Example
我刚回家
I just got home.
Watch out
✗ 刚我看见他。  →  ✓ 我刚看见他。