刚 / 刚刚 (Just, A Moment Ago) | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

刚 (gāng, "just") marks an action as having happened only a moment ago. 我刚到 = "I just arrived"; 他刚走 = "he just left." Like every Chinese adverb, it sits before the verb (never after it, the way English "just" can float), and — here's the part that surprises English speakers — it usually takes no 了. Learners reach for 了 to mark the past, but 刚 already bakes in "just-completed," so 了 is redundant and, in the bare recency use, wrong: 我刚到, not ❌我刚到了. This page covers 刚 and its emphatic twin 刚刚; the head-to-head with the time-noun 刚才 is on 刚 vs 刚才.

刚 before the verb: "just (now)"

Slot 刚 immediately in front of the verb. It tells the listener the action is fresh — it happened seconds or minutes ago, relative to now (or to whatever reference point the context sets).

我刚到，正准备给你打电话。

wǒ gāng dào, zhèng zhǔnbèi gěi nǐ dǎ diànhuà

I just got here — I was about to call you. (informal)

他刚走，你下楼可能还能碰到。

tā gāng zǒu, nǐ xià lóu kěnéng hái néng pèng dào

He just left — if you go downstairs you might still catch him. (informal)

电影刚开始，我们没迟到。

diànyǐng gāng kāishǐ, wǒmen méi chídào

The film just started — we're not late. (informal)

别吵，孩子刚睡着。

bié chǎo, háizi gāng shuìzháo

Keep it down — the baby just fell asleep. (informal)

Why no 了

This is the counter-intuitive bit. 刚 already encodes "just-completed + very recent," so a sentence-final 了 doubles up on information the adverb has already delivered — and the bare recency pattern rejects it. 他刚走 ("he just left") is complete and correct on its own; ❌他刚走了 sounds wrong to a native ear. Trust 刚 to carry the completion.

我刚吃完饭，先不喝了。

wǒ gāng chī wán fàn, xiān bù hē le

I've just finished eating — I'll skip a drink for now. (informal) — 刚 carries the completion; the resultative 完 does the rest.

💡

Resist the "past = 了" reflex. In the pure recency use, 刚 does the work of both "just" and the completed-ness, so 了 stays away: 我刚到 (not ❌我刚到了). The 了 only comes back when a duration or quantity follows — see the next section.

刚刚 — a touch more emphatic

The reduplicated 刚刚 (gānggāng) is a common, slightly stronger "just a moment ago." It's interchangeable with 刚 in most sentences, with a hair more emphasis on how recent the moment was.

我刚刚还看见他，怎么一下就不见了？

wǒ gānggāng hái kànjiàn tā, zěnme yíxià jiù bújiàn le

I saw him just a second ago — how'd he vanish so fast? (informal)

你刚刚说的那家店叫什么？

nǐ gānggāng shuō de nà jiā diàn jiào shénme

What's the name of that shop you just mentioned? (informal)

刚 + duration: "only … so far"

Pair 刚 with a following duration and it means "only [that long] so far" — the span is short from the speaker's point of view. Crucially, this pattern does take 了 (on the verb), because a quantified span is being completed: 刚学了三个月 = "have only been studying three months." Here the 了 marks the measured span, not the recency.

我刚学了三个月中文，说得还不好。

wǒ gāng xué le sān ge yuè Zhōngwén, shuō de hái bù hǎo

I've only been studying Chinese for three months — I don't speak well yet. (informal)

他刚来公司两个星期，还在适应。

tā gāng lái gōngsī liǎng ge xīngqī, hái zài shìyìng

He's only been at the company two weeks — still settling in. (informal)

Don't confuse it with the time-noun 刚才

刚 is an adverb locked in front of the verb. The look-alike 刚才 (gāngcái) is a time noun naming the recent moment — so it roams freely: it can front the sentence, be the subject of a question, or take 的. You can't swap one for the other; the full contrast is on 刚 vs 刚才.

刚才我在开会，没接到你的电话。

gāngcái wǒ zài kāihuì, méi jiē dào nǐ de diànhuà

I was in a meeting just now — I missed your call. (informal) — 刚才 fronts the sentence; 刚 could never sit here.

💡

Quick test: can the word move to the front, or take 的 (刚才的事 "that matter just now")? Then it's the time-noun 刚才. If it's welded to the verb and won't budge (刚到, 刚走), it's the adverb 刚.

Common Mistakes

1. Adding 了 after 刚 in the recency use. 刚 already marks completion; drop the 了.

❌ 我刚到了。

Wrong — 刚 carries the completion, so no 了: 我刚到。

✅ 我刚到，你等我一下。

wǒ gāng dào, nǐ děng wǒ yíxià

I just arrived — wait a sec for me. — 刚到, no 了.

2. Placing 刚 after the verb (English word order). The adverb goes before the verb.

❌ 我到刚。

Wrong order — 刚 precedes the verb: 我刚到。

✅ 我刚到。

wǒ gāng dào

I just arrived. — 刚 before 到.

3. Using 刚 where the time-noun 刚才 belongs. For a fronted or subject-slot time word, you need 刚才.

❌ 刚我在开会。

Wrong — a fronted time word is 刚才: 刚才我在开会。

✅ 刚才我在开会。

gāngcái wǒ zài kāihuì

I was in a meeting just now. — 刚才 as a fronting time noun.

4. Dropping 了 when a duration follows. The "only … so far" pattern keeps the 了 on the verb.

❌ 我刚学三个月中文。

Incomplete — a quantified span takes 了: 我刚学了三个月中文。

✅ 我刚学了三个月中文。

wǒ gāng xué le sān ge yuè Zhōngwén

I've only been studying Chinese for three months. — 刚 + V + 了 + duration.

Key Takeaways

刚 = "just (now)," a pre-verbal adverb marking a very recently completed action: 我刚到, 他刚走.
In the bare recency use it takes no 了 (刚 already means "just-completed"): 我刚到, not ❌我刚到了.
刚刚 is the slightly more emphatic reduplicated twin — "just a moment ago."
刚 + duration = "only … so far" and does take 了 (刚学了三个月), because the span is quantified.
Don't confuse the adverb 刚 (glued to the verb) with the time-noun 刚才 (roams freely, takes 的) — see 刚 vs 刚才.

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