update time：2025-05-09 13:15:47 Number of clicks：663 hits
The character 才 (cái) is one of those very common parts of Chinese grammar that many students find difficult because it is so common and versatile. Here we'll separate the grammatical uses of 才 into four different types and look at it that way.
才 can mean “only”, i.e. it implies that something is small or few in quantity. When used in this way, it very often appears with a measure word and a number. In this way it can express that “there are only x things”.
Have a look at an example:
A: 你怎么有那么多？
How come you've got so many? B: 我才有两个！
I've only got two!
We don't know what these two people are talking about, but A seems to believe that B has a lot of it. B uses 才 to indicate that they don't actually have a lot - they only have two.
Some more examples:
他才来过一次。
He's only been here once before.
现在才五点，太早了。
It's only five o'clock - it's too early.
我们一共才有500块钱，完全不够。
Altogether we've only got 500 bucks - it's not enough at all.
Notice how in all of these examples there is a sense of a sequence. Maybe in the future there will be more, but at the moment we've only reached a particular amount or number.
