{{Grammar Box}} 

In order to say that something "just now" occurred, use the [[Time noun|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.

<div class="jiegou">

刚才 + Verb

</div>

== Examples ==

<div class="liju">

* 你 <em>刚才</em> <strong>说</strong> 什么 了？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ <em>gāngcái</em> <strong>shuō</strong> shénme le? </span><span class="trans">What did you just say? </span>
* <em>刚才</em> 谁 <strong> 来 </strong> 了？<span class="pinyin"><em>Gāngcái</em> shéi <strong>  lái </strong>le? </span><span class="trans">Who came just now? </span>
* <em>刚才</em> 你 <strong>去</strong> 哪儿 了？<span class="pinyin"><em>Gāngcái</em> nǐ <strong>qù</strong> nǎr le? </span><span class="trans">Where did you go just now? </span>
* <em>刚才</em> 我 <strong>去</strong> 洗手间 了。<span class="pinyin"><em>Gāngcái</em> wǒ <strong>qù</strong> xǐshǒujiān le.</span><span class="trans">I just went to the restroom.</span>
* 老板 <em>刚才</em> <strong>生气</strong> 了。<span class="pinyin">Lǎobǎn <em>gāngcái</em> <strong>shēngqì</strong> le.</span><span class="trans">The boss just got angry.</span>
* 你们 <em>刚才</em> 在 <strong>看</strong> 什么？<span class="pinyin">Nǐmen <em>gāngcái</em> zài <strong>kàn</strong> shénme? </span><span class="trans">What were you looking at just now? </span>
* 不好意思，我 <em>刚才</em> <strong>出去</strong> 了。<span class="pinyin">Bù hǎoyìsi, wǒ <em>gāngcái</em> <strong>chūqù</strong> le.</span><span class="trans">I'm sorry, I just now stepped out.</span>
* 宝宝 <em>刚才</em> <strong>哭</strong> 了。<span class="pinyin">Bǎobao <em>gāngcái</em> <strong>kū</strong> le.</span><span class="trans">The baby just cried.</span>
* 他们 <em>刚才</em> 去 <strong>开会</strong> 了。<span class="pinyin">Tāmen <em>gāngcái</em> qù <strong>kāihuì</strong> le.</span><span class="trans">They just went to a meeting.</span>
* <em>刚才</em> 有 人 <strong>找</strong> 你。<span class="pinyin"><em>Gāngcái</em> yǒu rén <strong> zhǎo</strong> nǐ.</span><span class="trans">Just now, there was someone looking for you.</span>

</div>

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 [[Expressing "just" with "gang"|刚 (gāng)]].

==See also==
*[[Comparing "gang" and "gangcai"]]
*[[Explaining results with "suoyi"]]
*[[Cause and effect with "yinwei" and "suoyi"]]
*[[Stating the effect before the cause]] (advanced article)

== Sources and further reading ==

=== Books ===

* [[现代汉语八百词（增订本）]] (p. 217)[http://www.amazon.cn/%E7%8E%B0%E4%BB%A3%E6%B1%89%E8%AF%AD%E5%85%AB%E7%99%BE%E8%AF%8D/dp/B001198GSW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345693275&sr=8-1 →buy]


[[Category:A2 grammar points]]
{{Basic Grammar|刚才|A2|刚才 + Verb|你 <em>刚才</em> <strong>说</strong> 什么 了？|grammar point|ASGQ1KOY}}
{{Rel char|刚}}
{{Similar| "Just" with "gang"}}   
{{Similar|Comparing "gang" and "gangcai"}}
{{Used for|Expressing time and date}}
{{Used for|Sequencing events in time}}
{{Used for|Referring to changes of situation}}
{{POS|Nouns}}
{{Translation|just}}