native
How do I say 'just now'?
The standard way to refer to the very recent past — natural in all spoken contexts.
刚才
Just now / a moment ago.
LITERAL
Just a moment ago.
WHAT IT REALLY MEANS
Just now / a moment ago.
WHEN IT FITS
Referring to something that happened moments agoExplaining a recent changeContrasting now with a moment ago
The 刚才 / 刚 / 刚刚 family lets you fine-tune exactly how recent “recently” is:
- 刚才 — a moment ago. Could be 30 seconds or 30 minutes. It is a noun referring to the recent past moment: 刚才的事 (the thing that just happened).
- 刚刚 — just now, within seconds. Stronger recency than 刚才. 我刚刚到 means you are probably still putting your bag down.
- 刚 — the short adverb form, placed directly before a verb. 我刚吃完 (I just finished eating). This is the most efficient and common in fast speech.
The grammatical distinction is the hidden trap: 刚才 can stand alone as a time reference (刚才 = just now, as a moment in time), while 刚 must attach to a verb. Saying 刚 without a following verb is incomplete. The doubling in 刚刚 adds emphasis but follows the same adverb rule as 刚.
HOW PEOPLE ACTUALLY SAY IT
刚才谁来了?
Who just came by?
Recent visitor我刚才没听清。
I didn't catch that just now.
Asking for repetitionCHOOSE BY SITUATION
刚刚
Just (even more immediate).
The action literally just happened — within seconds or a minute刚
Just.
Short form, directly before a verb — 我刚到 = I just arrived