In order to say that something "just now" occurred, use the [time
noun](Time_noun "wikilink") 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 [刚
(gāng)](Expressing_"just"_with_"gang" "wikilink").

See also
--------

-   [Comparing "gang" and
    "gangcai"](Comparing_"gang"_and_"gangcai" "wikilink")
-   [Explaining results with
    "suoyi"](Explaining_results_with_"suoyi" "wikilink")
-   [Cause and effect with "yinwei" and
    "suoyi"](Cause_and_effect_with_"yinwei"_and_"suoyi" "wikilink")
-   [Stating the effect before the
    cause](Stating_the_effect_before_the_cause "wikilink")
    (advanced article)

Sources and further reading
---------------------------

### Books

-   [现代汉语八百词（增订本）](现代汉语八百词（增订本） "wikilink") (p.
    217)[→buy](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)

[Category:A2 grammar points](Category:A2_grammar_points "wikilink")