In order to say that something "just now" occurred, use the
time noun 刚才 (gāngcái). It
can be placed in front of the verb or the subject of a
statement.
Structure
This grammar structure is pretty straightforward. Similar to the
English "just now," you can put 刚才 (gāngcái) right before the verb
in a sentence. It can also come before or after the subject.
Examples
- 你 刚才 说 什么 了？Nǐ
gāngcái shuō shénme le?
What did you just say?
- 刚才 谁 来 了？Gāngcái shéi lái le?
Who came just now?
- 刚才 你 去 哪儿 了？Gāngcái nǐ qù nǎr le?
Where did you go just now?
- 刚才 我 去 洗手间 了。Gāngcái wǒ qù xǐshǒujiān
le.I just went to the
restroom.
- 老板 刚才 生气 了。Lǎobǎn gāngcái shēngqì
le.The boss just got angry.
- 你们 刚才 在 看 什么？Nǐmen gāngcái zài kàn
shénme? What were you looking at just
now?
- 不好意思，我 刚才 出去 了。Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ gāngcái chūqù
le.I'm sorry, I just now stepped
out.
- 宝宝 刚才 哭 了。Bǎobao
gāngcái kū le.The baby just cried.
- 他们 刚才 去 开会 了。Tāmen gāngcái qù kāihuì
le.They just went to a
meeting.
- 刚才 有 人 找 你。Gāngcái yǒu rén zhǎo
nǐ.Just now, there was someone looking
for you.
Note that for all of those cases, we're talking about something
that happened just now, as in, within the past 5 minutes
or so. If you're talking about something that "just happened"
yesterday or last week, don't use 刚才 (gāngcái), use 刚 (gāng).
See also
Sources and further
reading
Books
Category:A2 grammar points