“刚才” vs “刚刚”
In Chinese both “刚才” (gāngcái) and “刚刚” (gānggāng) refer to something that happened recently.
But their time sense and their position in the sentence differ.
1. 刚才 — “just now / a few minutes ago”
“刚才” (gāngcái) is a time noun.
It refers to the very recent past — usually a situation a few minutes ago.
“刚才”:
can stand at the beginning of the sentence;
or between the subject and the verb.
Where it stands
刚才 + clause
or:
Subject + 刚才 + Verb
just now
a moment ago
a few minutes ago
刚才的电话是我妈妈打来的
Structure
刚才的电话 + 是我妈妈打来的
the call just now + was from my mum
刚才 — just now
电话 — phone call
我妈妈 — my mum
打来的 — was the one who called
我刚才看过一遍，不想再看了
Structure
我 + 刚才 + 看过一遍
I + just now + watched it once through
我 — I
刚才 — just now
看过一遍 — watched it once through
不想再看了 — don't want to watch it again
2. 刚刚 — “recently / just”
“刚刚” (gānggāng) is a time adverb.
It shows that, from the speaker's point of view, the event happened recently.
That stretch of time can be:
a few minutes ago;
a few days ago;
even a few months ago.
“刚刚” normally stands after the subject and before the verb.
Where it stands
Subject + 刚刚 + Verb
just
recently
not long ago
我刚刚看视频学会了包饺子
Structure
我 + 刚刚 + 看视频 + 学会了包饺子
I + just + watched a video + learned to make dumplings
我 — I
刚刚 — just
看视频 — to watch a video
学会了 — learned how to
包饺子 — to make dumplings
他刚刚来北京两个月
Structure
他 + 刚刚 + 来北京 + 两个月
he + only / recently + came to Beijing + two months
他 — he
刚刚 — only / recently
来北京 — to come to Beijing
两个月 — two months
In this example 刚刚 doesn't mean a few minutes ago — it marks a state of affairs that began recently.
How 刚才 and 刚刚 differ
| 刚才 | 刚刚 | |
|---|---|---|
| Word class | time noun | time adverb |
| Time | the very recent past, a few minutes ago | recently: minutes, days or even months |
| Position | at the start of the sentence, or between subject and verb | normally after the subject, before the verb |
Quick Rule
刚才
刚才 + clause
or:
Subject + 刚才 + Verb
Just now / a few minutes ago
刚刚
Subject + 刚刚 + Verb
Recently / just
Examples:
我刚才看过一遍
我刚刚看视频学会了包饺子