Gāng lái zhè gè chéngshì de shíhou, wǒ bú tài shìyìng zhèlǐ de shēnghuó.

In this sentence, 刚 is an adverb meaning “just / not long ago”:

• 刚来这个城市 = just came to this city / had just arrived in this city.

Differences:

• 刚: goes directly before a verb to show the action happened not long ago.
  
  • 我刚到家。= I just got home.
• 刚才: is a time word (“a moment ago / just now”), often used like an adverbial time phrase.
  • 刚才我在吃饭。= I was eating just now.
• 刚刚: in modern Mandarin is very close to 刚, a bit more colloquial/emphatic in some regions.
  • 我刚刚来。≈ 我刚来。= I just came.

In this sentence you can also say:

• 刚到这个城市的时候 or 刚刚来这个城市的时候 – the meaning is very similar.

刚来这个城市的时候 is a time clause meaning:

when (I) had just come to this city

Structure:

• 刚来这个城市 = (I) just came to this city
• 的 turns that whole mini‑sentence into a modifier for 时候 (time, moment).

So:

• [刚来这个城市] 的 [时候]
  = the time when (I) had just come to this city

This 的 is the usual “clause + 的 + noun” pattern:

• 我出生的地方 = the place where I was born
• 他来的那天 = the day when he came

Yes, that word order is very natural and probably more common:

• 我刚来这个城市的时候，不太适应这里的生活。

Meaning is the same as in:

• 刚来这个城市的时候，我不太适应这里的生活。

In Chinese, time expressions (like “when I had just come…”) usually go before the main clause, but whether you put 我 before or after that time expression is flexible here. Both are correct and natural.

You can say:

• 刚来这个城市，我不太适应这里的生活。

This is understandable and not wrong, especially in spoken Chinese. It sounds a bit more casual and slightly less smooth than with 的时候.

Adding 的时候:

• makes it explicit that this is a time frame: “at the time when…”
• sounds a bit more complete and natural in standard written Chinese.

So:

• With 的时候 → more standard, clear: When I’d just come to this city…
• Without 的时候 → more colloquial, slightly abbreviated.

Chinese normally needs a measure word (classifier) between a demonstrative like 这 (this) and a noun:

• 这 + 个 + 城市 = this + (general classifier) + city

So the default form is:

• 这个城市 = this city

You can say 这城市, but:

• it’s much less common, and
• feels more informal / literary / stylistic.

Other correct options:

• 这座城市 – using 座 (zuò), a classifier often used for cities and large buildings.
  
  • 有名的这座城市 = this famous city
• 这个城市 is still the most neutral, everyday choice.

Yes, you can say:

• 刚到这个城市的时候，我不太适应这里的生活。

Both are natural:

• 刚来这个城市的时候
• 刚到这个城市的时候

Nuance:

• 来: “come (to here)” – often implies movement toward the speaker’s current location.
• 到: “arrive at / reach” – emphasizes the arrival at a place, more neutral about viewpoint.

In this sentence, the difference is very small; both are acceptable in practice.

These express different degrees:

• 不太适应: not very used to; not quite adapted
  
  • soft, moderate negative; suggests some discomfort but not extreme.
• 不适应: not used to; not adapted
  
  • stronger and more direct; sounds like a clear mismatch.
• 很不适应: really not used to it; very unadapted
  
  • emphasizes strong discomfort.

So in the sentence:

• 我不太适应这里的生活。
  = I wasn’t really used to life here (but maybe I’m adjusting).

In this sentence, 适应 behaves like a verb:

• 适应 + object
  • 适应这里的生活 = adapt to life here / get used to life here

Common patterns:

• 我不太适应这里的生活。= I’m not very used to life here.
• 你适应了吗？= Have you adapted?
• 他很快就适应了新工作。= He adapted quickly to the new job.

Compare with 习惯 (xíguàn):

• 适应: to adapt to (often the process)
• 习惯: to be used to / to be accustomed to (more about the state)

They overlap, but 适应 is often used for adjusting to a new environment, rules, schedule, etc.

This is about tone sandhi.

Rule: 不 (bù) becomes bú (second tone) when followed by a fourth‑tone syllable.

• 太 (tài) is fourth tone → 不 changes:
  • bù tài → bú tài

Other examples:

• 不对 → bú duì
• 不错 → bú cuò
• 不知道 → bù zhīdào (here 知 is first tone, so 不 stays fourth tone)

In writing pinyin, people often mark this correctly as bú tài.

All three can mean roughly “here / this place”, but there are nuances:

• 这里: standard, works well in both written and spoken Mandarin.
• 这儿: more colloquial, common in Northern Mandarin (e.g., Beijing).
• 这边: literally “this side / this area”; can be slightly more vague or polite, sometimes used for regions or situations.

In this sentence:

• 这里的生活 = the life here (in this city)

You could also hear 这儿的生活 or 这边的生活, especially in speech, with only slight style differences. 这里 is a safe default.

Here 的 is the possessive / attributive particle linking a modifier to a noun:

• 这里 (here) + 的
  • 生活 (life)
    → 这里的生活 = the life here / life in this place

This is the common X 的 Y pattern:

• 中国的文化 = Chinese culture
• 我的朋友 = my friend
• 城市的空气 = the air of the city

You can sometimes drop 的 in very fixed expressions (like 中国人, 北京话), but 这里生活 is not natural here. You need 的: 这里的生活.

Chinese does not change the verb form for tense. Instead it uses time words/adverbs and sometimes aspect particles.

Here, “this happened in the past” is shown by:

• 刚来这个城市的时候 – “when (I) had just come to this city”
  • 刚 implies a recently completed action relative to that time.
  • 的时候 marks it as a time frame in the past.

So even without something like “-ed”, the whole structure makes it clear we’re talking about a past situation.

No, you cannot put 刚 at the end like that. 刚 must go before the verb it modifies:

• ✅ 刚来这个城市的时候
• ✅ 我刚到这个城市的时候……
• ❌ 来这个城市的时候刚……

Correct positions:

• 刚 + verb
  
  • 我刚到。= I just arrived.
  • 他刚开始工作。= He just started working.

So in this sentence, 刚 correctly modifies 来:

• 刚来这个城市的时候 = when (I) had just come to this city.