Comparison of “刚” and “刚才”

Both 刚 (gāng) and 刚才 (gāngcái) are used to express that an action happened recently (similar to “just” or “just now” in English). However, they differ in word class, sentence structure, and time perception.

1. Word Class & Time Perception

刚才 (gāngcái) is a Noun (time word). It refers to an objectively brief moment ago — usually just a few minutes in the past.

刚 (gāng) is an Adverb. It indicates a time frame that the speaker subjectively considers short (this could be several minutes, days, or even months, e.g. 我刚来中国两个月 — I have only been in China for two months).

2. Sentence Position

刚 must be placed directly before the verb.

刚才 can be placed either before the verb or at the beginning of the sentence before the subject.

Comparison Examples