Expressing "just" with "gang"

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Sometimes things happen in a flash, or they happen a very short time before you talk about them. In English we use the word "just," and in Chinese we express that "just" with 刚 (gāng) or 刚刚 (gānggāng).

Expressing "just" happened

Structure

刚 (gāng) expresses that the action happened not long ago. 刚刚 (gānggāng) is used the same way, with the same meaning.

Subject + 刚 + Verb

or

Subject + 刚刚 + Verb

Examples

  • 知道 。 gāng zhīdao. I just found out.
  • 工作 。 gāng gōngzùo. He just started working.
  • 她们 走 。 Tāmen gāng zǒu. They just left.
  • 吃 完 饭 。 gāng chī wán fàn. I just finished eating.
  • 出去gāng chūqù. He just went out.
  • 买 了 很 多 水果 。 gāng mǎi le hěn dūo shǔigǔo. I just bought a lot of fruit.
  • 我们 下班 。 Wǒmen gāng xiàbān. We just got off work.
  • 宝宝 起床 。 Bǎobǎo gāng qǐchuáng. The baby just woke up.
  • 老公 回 家 。 Lǎogōng gāng húi jiā. The husband just came home.
  • 做 完 今天 的 工作 。 gāng zùo wán jīntiān de gōngzùo. I just finished today's work.
  • 来 我们 公司 。 gāng lái wǒmen gōngsī. He just came to our office.

"Just" happened, with a specific time period

Structure

刚 (gāng) can also express "from the time an action happens until the present time".

Subject + 刚 + VO + Duration

Note that although we need to say "ago" in English, in this pattern there's no need for a word that means "ago."

Examples

  • 到 这里 五 分钟gāng dào zhèlǐ wǔ fēnzhōng. I just got here five minutes ago.
  • 来 中国 半 年gāng lái Zhōnggúo bàn nián. I just got to China six months ago.
  • 学 中文 两 个 星期gāng xué Zhōngwén liǎng gè xīngqī. I just started studying Chinese two weeks ago.
  • 十 分钟gāng zǒu shí fēnzhōng. He just left ten minutes ago.
  • 我们 认识 一 个 月Wǒmen gāng rènshi yī gè yuè. We just knew each other for a month.
  • 工作 一 年gāng gōngzùo yī nián. He just worked a year.
  • 小心 点 , 这 个 电脑 两 天Xiǎoxīn diǎn, zhè gè diànnǎo gāng mǎi liǎng tiān. Be careful, I just bought that computer two days ago.
  • 我 也 知道 两 分钟Wǒ yě gāng zhīdao liǎng fēnzhōng. I just found out two minutes ago.
  • 去 美国 一 个 星期gāng qù Měigúo yī gè xīngqī. He just went to America for one week.

See also

Sources and further reading

Books