纔
cái HSK2

silky color

才 cái
variant 纔
then and only then adverb
Used to show that a result happens only after a specific condition is met, or later than expected.

我必须完美才能被接受。

wǒ bì​xū wán​měi cái néng bèi jiē​shòu.

I have to be perfect to be accepted.

他到3岁才学会说话。

tā dào3 suì cái xué huì shuō huà.

He did not learn to talk until age 3.

just now adverb
Used to show that an action has only just happened, meaning "just now" or "only a moment ago".

她不是刚刚才分手吗？

tā bù​shì gāng​gāng cái fēn shǒu ma?

Didn't she just break up?

我才刚开始在这里工作。

wǒ cái gāng kāi​shǐ zài zhè​lǐ gōng​zuò.

I just started working here.

actually adverb
Used to add emphasis to a statement, often to express certainty or to contradict someone else.

我才是她的妈妈！

wǒ cái shì tā de mā​ma!

I'm her mother!

你才是需要帮助的人。

nǐ cái shì xū​yào bāng​zhù de rén.

You're the one who needs help.

only adverb
Used before a number or expression of quantity to mean "only" or "merely".

他才比您大两岁。

tā cái bǐ nín dà liǎng suì.

He's only two years older than you.

我当时才十岁。

wǒ dāng​shí cái shí suì.

I was only 10 years old.

Cross-References

Same as

Frequency
Character
Written text
235th most common 939.1 per million
Movie subtitles
179th most common 983.0 per million appears in 99% of films
Word
Movie subtitles
1094.5 per million appears in 97% of films
Written text
593.0 per million

Details
HSK 3.0
Level 2
Simplified
才
Strokes
23
Unicode
U+7E94

Sources
Frequency data
MTSU Chinese text computingSUBTLEX-CHBCC Corpus (BLCU)