Subject + 刚刚 + Verb
Use 刚刚 in front of a verb to say something happened a tiny moment ago — 'just (now)'. The window is short: minutes ago, this morning at the earliest. It works for finished actions and recently-concluded states, and it's slightly more emphatic than plain 刚, doubling the syllable to drive home 'really just'.
Structure
[SUBJECT] 刚刚 [VERB] ([COMPLEMENT/OBJECT])
[SUBJECT] gānggāng [VERB]
How to Think About It
刚刚 is a time-stamp adverb that pins the action to a sliver of recent past. Unlike English 'just', it doesn't need a perfect-tense helper — the verb stays bare. Don't add 了 right after 刚刚 — natives sometimes do, but typically only at the end of the clause: 他刚刚到了 feels awkward unless something follows.
Examples
英国首相斯塔默刚刚结束了对中国的访问。
Yīngguó shǒuxiàng Sītǎmò gānggāng jiéshù le duì Zhōngguó de fǎngwèn.
British Prime Minister Starmer just finished his visit to China.
我刚刚收到他的短信。
Wǒ gānggāng shōudào tā de duǎnxìn.
I just got his text.
她刚刚走，你下楼还能赶上。
Tā gānggāng zǒu, nǐ xià lóu hái néng gǎnshàng.
She just left — if you head downstairs you can still catch her.
Common Mistake
Learners use 刚刚 for any past action, including yesterday or last week. 刚刚 marks something that happened just moments or hours ago, not yesterday. For yesterday's events, use 昨天 or just plain past-tense framing.
我昨天刚刚去看了电影。
我刚刚看完电影回来。
Don't Confuse With
刚 + Verb
Same meaning, slightly less emphatic and a hair more flexible — 刚 can stretch to 'recently' (within days), 刚刚 stays tight to 'moments ago'.
刚才 + Subject + Verb
刚才 is a time noun ('a moment ago') and goes at the front of the clause as a setting. 刚刚 is an adverb that hugs the verb. 刚才我去了 sets the scene; 我刚刚去了 reports the action.
已经 + Verb + 了
已经 means 'already' — the focus is that something is done, not when it happened. 刚刚 specifically marks 'right before now'.
Practice
Fill in the blank: 我___回到家。 (I just got home.)
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刚刚
Fill in the blank: 老板刚刚___电话给我。 (The boss just called me.)
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打
Arrange: 出去 / 刚刚 / 他 / 了 (He just stepped out.)
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他刚刚出去了。
Translate to Chinese: I just finished eating.
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我刚刚吃完饭。
Use 刚刚 to describe something that happened in the last few minutes.
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我刚刚跟朋友约好了，周末一起去看新开的那家咖啡店。
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 1 Fluentide episode:
Related Grammar Patterns
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Hear Subject + 刚刚 + Verb in real Chinese, not in a textbook.
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