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HSK 4

刚刚

just now; a moment ago

adverbneutral
刚
gāng1st tone
刚
gāng1st tone

HSK level

1
2
3
4
5
6
Pinyin
gānggāng
Part of speech
adverb
Level
HSK 4
Strokes
12
Register
neutral

Stroke order for 刚刚

刚刚 is written with 12 strokes (刚: 6, 刚: 6). The animation replays automatically.

What does 刚刚 mean?

刚刚 (gānggāng) is an adverb meaning 'just now,' 'a moment ago,' or 'just barely.'

Its main use marks an action that happened in the very recent past — 他刚刚走 'he just left.' A second use means 'exactly / precisely,' as in 刚刚好 'just right, perfect fit.' Two differences from English 'just.' First, 刚刚 is a doubled, more emphatic form of 刚 (gāng); the reduplication stresses how recent the moment was, feeling slightly warmer or more definite than plain 刚.

Second, as a time word 刚刚 refers to real elapsed time in the past, whereas English 'just' can also mean 'only/simply' — that sense is 只是 (zhǐshì) in Chinese, not 刚刚. Position it before the verb, and note it pairs naturally with 了 for completed recent actions. Register is neutral and very common in speech.

Character by character

刚gāngjust; barely; firm
+
刚gāngjust; barely (reduplicated for emphasis)
=
刚刚

Memory hook: 刚 doubled = 'just just' — emphasizing it happened only a moment ago.

Example sentences

我刚刚吃完饭。

Wǒ gānggāng chī wán fàn.

I just finished eating.

spoken

他刚刚出去了。

Tā gānggāng chūqù le.

He just went out.

spoken

这件衣服大小刚刚好。

Zhè jiàn yīfu dàxiǎo gānggāng hǎo.

This piece of clothing fits just right.

neutral

会议刚刚开始，你没迟到。

Huìyì gānggāng kāishǐ, nǐ méi chídào.

The meeting just started, you're not late.

neutral

Common phrases with 刚刚

刚刚好gānggāng hǎojust right; perfect
刚刚开始gānggāng kāishǐjust started
刚刚过去gānggāng guòqùjust passed / went by

Synonyms

刚才gāngcái

刚才 is a time noun ('a moment ago') and can stand alone as a topic (刚才你说什么 'what did you say just now'). 刚刚 is an adverb tied to the verb. 刚才 points to a short past window; 刚刚 stresses immediacy. They often overlap but 刚才 behaves like a noun, 刚刚 like an adverb.

刚gāng

刚 is the single-syllable version, slightly plainer. 刚刚 doubles it for a bit more emphasis on how recent. In fast speech 刚 is common; 刚刚 draws attention to the recency.

Don't confuse 刚刚 with

刚才gāngcái

刚才 is a noun that can start a sentence or take 的; 刚刚 is an adverb sitting before the verb. You can say 刚才的事 ('the thing just now') but not 刚刚的事 in the same way.

才cái

才 means 'only then / not until' and stresses that something happened later or slower than expected. 刚刚 means 'just now.' Different functions despite both touching timing.

FAQ

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