Learn Hardcore Chinese: wǒ gāngcái zài gōngyuán kàndào liǎng zhī gǒu.

刚才 (“just now / a moment ago”) is a time word that already tells you it happened in the past.
The verb 看到 (“to see / to catch sight of”) can refer to a completed action, especially with a past-time word.

Mandarin often indicates time with:

Time expressions: 昨天, 刚才, 上个星期…
Aspect particles: 了, 过, 着 (when needed)

Because 刚才 is clear enough, you don’t have to add a 了 here. Many native speakers would also say:

我刚才在公园看到了两只狗。

Both are natural; the time word itself already marks it as past.

What’s the difference between 刚 and 刚才?

Both relate to “recently / just,” but they’re used a bit differently.

刚
- Literally “just (now), just recently.”
- Modifies the verb directly.
- Often used like an adverb: 我刚看到两只狗。 (“I just saw two dogs.”)
- Focuses on how recent the action is.
刚才
- A time noun meaning “a moment ago / just now (in the past).”
- Used more like “earlier, a short time ago,” not exactly this instant.
- Can function as a time expression: 我刚才在公园。 (“I was at the park a moment ago.”)

In your sentence, 刚才 sets the time frame:

我刚才在公园看到两只狗。
“I (a moment ago) at the park saw two dogs.”

If you swap to 刚, it’s still OK but a bit different in feel:

我刚在公园看到两只狗。
Emphasis feels slightly more on the recency of the seeing action itself, rather than on “a moment ago” as a time point.

What exactly is 在 doing here? Isn’t 在 also used for “am/is/are doing (progressive)”?

Yes, 在 has two very common uses:

Preposition for location (“at / in / on”)
- Pattern: 在 + place + Verb
- In your sentence:
  - 在公园 = “at the park”
  - 我刚才在公园看到两只狗。 = “I just now at the park saw two dogs.”
Progressive marker (“be doing”)
- Pattern: 在 + Verb
- Example: 我在看书。 = “I’m reading.”

In 我刚才在公园看到两只狗, 在 clearly belongs with 公园, so it’s the location preposition, not the progressive marker.

If it were progressive, you’d see something like:

我刚才在看书。 = “I was reading just now.”
(No place after 在 here; it goes directly before the verb 看.)

Why is the order 刚才在公园 and not something like “在刚才公园”? What is the general word order rule?

The general Mandarin word order for this kind of sentence is:

[Subject] + [Time] + [Place] + [Verb] + [Object]

So:

Subject: 我
Time: 刚才
Place: 在公园
Verb: 看到
Object: 两只狗

→ 我 + 刚才 + 在公园 + 看到 + 两只狗。

You can move 刚才 a bit:

刚才我在公园看到两只狗。 (Time at the very beginning)
我在公园刚才看到两只狗。 (much less natural; we normally don’t put 刚才 there)

But you cannot say 在刚才公园; 在 introduces place, not time. Time words like 刚才、昨天、晚上 stand on their own and usually come before the place phrase.

What does 只 (zhī) mean here? Why do we need it before 狗?

只 (zhī) is a measure word (classifier) used for many animals and some small things.

Structure:
Number + Measure Word + Noun

So:

两 (two) = number
只 = measure word
狗 = noun

→ 两只狗 = “two dogs”

You must have a measure word when counting nouns in Mandarin; you can’t say:

✗ 两狗
✗ 两狗只

For animals, 只 is the most common classifier. There are other classifiers for some animals (e.g. 条 for long, thin ones), but 只 is the basic, default one for “dog.”

Are there other measure words for dogs, or is it always 只?

The standard, neutral classifier for “dog” is 只:

一只狗，两只狗

However, in certain contexts you might see:

条狗: using 条, which is normally for long, flexible things (条鱼, 一条河).
- With 狗, 条 can sound colloquial or slightly pejorative / casual, depending on tone and context.
- It’s not the “textbook safe” choice.

For learners, use 只 for dogs almost all the time. It’s the most natural and broadly correct option.

Why is it 两 and not 二 for “two” here?

Mandarin has two common words for “two”:

二 (èr) – used in:
- Numbers, counting: 一、二、三…
- Phone numbers, addresses, math, etc.
- Ordinals with 第: 第二 (“second”)
两 (liǎng) – used before measure words and some nouns:
- 两只狗 (two dogs)
- 两个人 (two people)
- 两本书 (two books)

So in your sentence, because “two” comes before a classifier (只), you must use 两:

✔ 两只狗
✗ 二只狗 (this sounds wrong in everyday Mandarin)

What’s the difference between 看, 看到, and 看见?

All involve seeing/looking, but they differ in detail:

看 (kàn) – “to look / to watch / to read”
- Focuses on the action of looking, not necessarily successfully seeing something.
- Example: 我在看电视。 – “I am watching TV.”
看到 (kàndào) – “to see / to catch sight of”
- A resultative verb compound: 看 (look) + 到 (arrive/achieve).
- Implies you successfully saw it.
- In your sentence: 看到两只狗 = “(managed to) see two dogs.”
看见 (kànjiàn) – also “to see / catch sight of”
- Very close in meaning to 看到; often interchangeable.
- Some speakers feel 看见 is slightly more colloquial, but the difference is small.

In many contexts, 看到 ≈ 看见:

我在公园看到两只狗。
我在公园看见两只狗。

Both are fine and both mean “I saw two dogs at the park.”

Should there be a 了 after 看到? What’s the difference between 看到 and 看到了 here?

Both are possible:

我刚才在公园看到两只狗。
我刚才在公园看到了两只狗。

看到了 = 看 (look) + 到 (achieve) + 了 (perfective aspect)

Adding 了 often emphasizes that the action is completed or that the speaker is presenting a new fact.
Without 了, the sentence is still past because of 刚才, but it can feel a bit more neutral or narrative.

In everyday speech, both versions are common. With clear past-time words like 刚才, 昨天, etc., native speakers often omit 了 when the past-ness is already obvious.

As a learner, it’s safe to use 看到了 to clearly mark a completed action:

我刚才在公园看到了两只狗。

Why isn’t there a plural ending on 狗 (like 狗们)? How do plurals work?

Mandarin usually does not change the noun form to show plural. Plural is expressed by:

Numbers + measure word: 两只狗, 三本书, 五个人
Context: 我喜欢狗。 can mean “I like dog(s).”

The suffix 们 is:

Mostly for people/pronouns: 我们, 你们, 他们, 孩子们
Very rarely used with animals; if used, it tends to sound personifying or poetic.

So:

两只狗 already clearly means two dogs — no need for 狗们.
狗们 is unusual and would suggest “the dogs (as a group, personified),” not just “some dogs.”

Could I say 我刚才看到两只狗在公园 instead? What changes if I move 在公园?

You can move 在公园, but the meaning focus shifts:

我刚才在公园看到两只狗。
- Neutral, standard: “I (just now at the park) saw two dogs.”
- Emphasis: where you were.
我刚才看到两只狗在公园。
- Sounds more like: “I (just now) saw two dogs that were in the park.”
- Emphasis: where the dogs were.

In #2, 在公园 feels like it modifies 两只狗 (“two dogs [that are] at the park”), not your location. It’s not wrong, but it has a slightly different nuance. The original sentence is the most straightforward way to say “I was at the park and I saw two dogs.”

Where can 刚才 go in the sentence? Must it be right after 我?

刚才 is a time expression, and time expressions are somewhat flexible. Common positions:

After the subject:
- 我刚才在公园看到两只狗。
  Very natural.
At the very beginning:
- 刚才我在公园看到两只狗。
  Also natural; puts a bit more emphasis on the time frame “a moment ago.”

Less natural:

我在公园刚才看到两只狗。 (unusual)
我在刚才公园看到两只狗。 (wrong; 刚才 is not a place)

So the best positions: [刚才] goes either right after the subject or at the very start of the sentence.

I learned 只 can be pronounced zhǐ and means “only.” Why is it zhī here?

Good observation: there are two different characters/words:

只 (zhī, first tone) – measure word for animals, some small items, etc.
- Example: 一只狗，两只鸟，一只鞋
只 (zhǐ, third tone) – adverb meaning “only / just / merely”
- Example: 我只有一只狗。 – “I only have one dog.”

In your sentence:

两只狗 uses 只 (zhī), the measure word.
Pronunciation: zhī, high-level first tone, not third tone.

So it’s important to distinguish by tone and function in the sentence.