Comparing "gang" and "gangcai"

刚 (gāng) and 刚才 (gāngcái) are similar, but they have somewhat different uses.

Both are used before the verb but have different meanings

刚 emphasizes something happened not long ago

"刚" is actually an adverb, and it is placed in front of the verb. It emphasizes that the action just happened a very short time ago. It is similar to the English "just."

Structure

刚 + Verb

Examples

• 我 刚 说过，不 想 再 说 一 遍。I just said it, and I don't want to say it again.
• 我 刚 看到 他。I just saw him.
• 他 刚 来。He just came.

刚才 emphasizes "just now"

刚才 is a time noun, and it expresses that the time that has passed is really short. If it is placed before the verb, it emphasizes what happened in the time that has just passed. It is similar to the English "just now."

Structure

刚才 + Verb

Examples

• 我 刚才 看 过 了，不 想 再 看 一 遍。I saw it just now, and I don't want to see it again.
• 我 刚才 看到 他 了。I just now saw him.
• 他 刚才 来 了。He came just now.

我 觉得 现在 比 刚才 亮。

(Here it's very clearly acting as a time noun.)I think it's brighter now that just before.

刚才 can be used as an attribute while 刚 cannot

刚才 can also directly modify a noun to indicate it is that one from "just now" or "just before."

Structure

刚才 + 的 + Noun

Examples

• 刚才 的 事情 太 让 人 生气 了。What just happened really made people angry.
• 刚 的 事情 太 让 人 生气 了。Just thing really makes people angry.

刚 can be used as "Just" while 刚才 cannot

刚 is an adverb, and it can also spruce up an adjective. It has the same meaning as 刚刚. (刚才 cannot do this.)

Structure

刚 + Adjective

Examples

• 天 刚 晴。The sky just became clear.
• 一 个 面包 刚 够 吃，多 一 个 更 好。One pice of bread is just enough, one more is even better.

Examples of right and wrong sentences

• 我 刚才 回家。
• 我 刚 回家。I just got home.
• 我 刚才 没 想好 吃 什么，现在 我 想好 了。
• 我 刚 没 想好 吃 什么，现在 我 想好 了。Just a while ago, I didn't think up what to eat, now I just thought it up.

Example dialog

• A: 你 刚才 去 哪儿 了？Where did you go just now?
• B: 我 刚 上 完 厕所。I just got done in the bathroom.
• A: 那 你 不 知道 刚才 的 事情 吧？Then you don't know what just now happened?
• B: 是 不 是 有人 吵架 了？Did some people start arguing?

See also

• "Just now" with "gangcai"
• "Just" with "gang"

Sources and further reading

Books

• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (刚 p.216) →buy
• 现代汉语八百词（增订本） (刚才 p.217) →buy
• 对外汉语教学语法释疑201例 (p.28) →buy
• Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 2 (3rd ed) (pp. 40- 2) →buy
• 卓越汉语－公司实战篇 (p. 239) →buy

Dictionaries

• 现代汉语词典（第5版） (p.446) →buy