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才
纔
cái
1. a moment ago
2. just now
3. (preceded by a clause of condition or reason) not until
4. (followed by a numerical clause) only
HSK 3 Very Common • Top 0% ✏️ 3 strokes

Character Breakdown (Single character)

才
cái
ability, talent, gift; just, only
HSK 3 3 丶

Compound Words (20)

不才
bùcái
untalented
人才
réncái
talent
HSK 5
偏才
piāncái
talent in a particular area
全才
quáncái
all-rounder
刚才
gāngcái
just now
HSK 3
刚才
gāngcái
(just) a moment ago
HSK 3
却才
quècái
just now
口才
kǒucái
eloquence
多才
duōcái
multi-talented
天才
tiāncái
talent
HSK 6
奇才
qícái
genius
奴才
núcai
slave
将才
jiàngcái
talented field commander (military)
屈才
qūcái
to waste talent
干才
gàncái
ability
庸才
yōngcái
mediocrity
德才
décái
ethics and ability
成才
chéngcái
to make sth of oneself
才不
cáibù
by no means
才分
cáifèn
ability

Example Sentences (7)

你怎么才来？
Nǐ zěnme cái lái?
Why are you only here now?
Text 3
对不起，周经理，来机场的路上我才发现忘带护照了。
Duìbuqǐ, Zhōu jīnglǐ, lái jīchǎng de lùshang wǒ cái fāxiàn wàng dài hùzhào le.
Sorry, Manager Zhou, I just realized on the way to the airport that I forgot my passport.
Text 3
你是在开玩笑吧？你们不是才认识一个月？
Nǐ shì zài kāi wánxiào ba? Nǐmen bú shì cái rènshi yí gè yuè?
Are you kidding? Didn't you just meet a month ago?
Text 2
您有零钱吗？司机把我送到机场的时候，我才发现忘记带钱包了。
Nín yǒu língqián ma? Sījī bǎ wǒ sòng dào jīchǎng de shíhou, wǒ cái fāxiàn wàngjì dài qiánbāo le.
Do you have any change? When the driver dropped me off at the airport, I only then realized I had forgotten to bring my wallet.
Text 3
我原来以为做生意很简单，后来才发现其实并不容易，现在赚钱越来越难了。
Wǒ yuánlái yǐwéi zuò shēngyi hěn jiǎndān, hòulái cái fāxiàn qíshí bìng bù róngyì, xiànzài zhuànqián yuèláiyuè nán le.
I used to think doing business was very simple, but later I realized it's actually not easy, and now making money is getting harder and harder.
Text 3
你才到新公司，不要太急着赚钱，多学习才是最重要的。
Nǐ cái dào xīn gōngsī, bú yào tài jí zhe zhuàn qián, duō xuéxí cái shì zuì zhòngyào de.
You just joined the new company; don’t be too eager to make money. Learning more is the most important.
Text 1
你才到新公司，不要太急着赚钱，多学习才是最重要的。
Nǐ cái dào xīn gōngsī, bú yào tài jí zhe zhuàn qián, duō xuéxí cái shì zuì zhòngyào de.
You just joined the new company; don’t be too eager to make money. Learning more is the most important.
Text 1

Alternate Entries

才
cái
ability / talent / sb of a certain type / a capable individual / only / only then / just now
HSK 3

Metadata

Category
Chinese
HSK Character Level
3
Character Frequency Rank
234
Word Frequency Rank
177 of 84,292