才 cái in a sentence
Ability (just - only - not until - talent)
才 (cái) means Ability (just - only - not until - talent). Below are 21 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.
Dictionary examples
我等了很久，他 才 来。
Wǒ děng le hěn jiǔ, tā cái lái.
I waited a long time before he came.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 才
刚 才 是谁打的电话？
Gāngcái shì shéi dǎ de diànhuà?
Who was that on the phone just now?
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 刚才
多运动 才 能更健康。
Duō yùndòng cái néng gèng jiànkāng.
Only by exercising more can you get healthier.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 健康
他很年轻， 才 二十岁。
Tā hěn niánqīng, cái èrshí suì.
He is young — only twenty.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 年轻
多练习 才 能提高水平。
Duō liànxí cái néng tígāo shuǐpíng.
Only with practice can you raise your level.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 水平
努力学习 才 会有好成绩。
Nǔlì xuéxí cái huì yǒu hǎo chéngjì.
Only by studying hard will you get good results.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 成绩
只有努力 才 能提高水平。
Zhǐyǒu nǔlì cái néng tígāo shuǐpíng.
Only through hard work can you improve.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 只有
老师讲了两次，我 才 明白。
Lǎoshī jiǎng le liǎng cì, wǒ cái míngbai.
The teacher explained twice before I understood.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 明白
From the graded readers
到家以后我 才 发现手机不见了。
dào jiā yǐhòu wǒ cái fāxiàn shǒujī bùjiàn le / liǎo / liào.
It wasn't until I got home that I noticed it was gone.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · Losing My Phone
我们坐了五个小时的车 才 到那座山。
wǒmen zuò le / liǎo / liào wǔ gè xiǎoshí de / dì chē cái dào nà / nèi zuò shān.
It took five hours by coach to reach the mountain.
Graded reader · HSK 2 · A Trip With Friends
我的手机没有响，我七点五十 才 醒。
wǒ de(possessive) shǒujī méiyǒu xiǎng, wǒ qī diǎn wǔshí cái xǐng.
My phone didn't go off and I didn't wake until ten to eight.
Graded reader · HSK 2 · Late for Work
回到家还要继续做，常常两点 才 睡。
huídào jiā háiyāo jìxù zuò, chángcháng liǎng diǎn cái shuì.
I'd carry on at home and often didn't get to bed until two.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Facing Pressure
这次我看清楚了 才 下单——蓝色，大号。
zhècì wǒ kānqīng chǔ le / liǎo / liào cái xià dān—— lánsè, dà hào / háo.
This time I checked properly before ordering — blue, large.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · Shopping Online
车站里人非常多，我等了半个小时 才 买到票。
chēzhàn lǐ rén fēicháng duō, wǒ děng le / liǎo / liào bànge xiǎoshí cái mǎi dào piào.
The station was packed; I queued half an hour before I got a ticket.
Graded reader · HSK 2 · The Train to Shanghai
我也终于明白，能长期做下去的， 才 叫努力。
wǒ yě zhōngyú míngbai, néng chángqī zuò xiàqu de / dì, cái jiào nǔlì.
And I finally understood that only what you can keep doing counts as effort.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Facing Pressure
我在同一条街上走了三遍， 才 发现自己一直在转圈。
wǒ zài tóngyī tiáo jiēshàng zǒule sān biàn, cái fāxiàn zìjǐ yìzhí zài zhuǎn / zhuàn juān.
I'd walked down the same street three times before I realised I was going in circles.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · Getting Lost
最后一次，我骑了很远 才 发现——他早就把手松开了。
zuìhòu yīcì, wǒ qí le / liǎo / liào hěn yuǎn cái fāxiàn—— tā zǎo jiù bǎshǒu sōngkāi le / liǎo / liào.
On the last attempt I'd ridden a long way before I realised he'd let go ages ago.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · Learning to Ride a Bike
看着火车开走的时候，我 才 发现自己一直没说“再见”。
kànzhe huǒchē kāi zǒu de / dì shíhou, wǒ cái fāxiàn zìjǐ yìzhí méi shuō" zàijiàn".
Watching the train pull out, I realised I'd never actually said goodbye.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Saying Goodbye
我这 才 知道，真正尊重你的人，不会因为一次拒绝就离开。
wǒ zhè / zhèi cái zhīdào, zhēnzhèng zūnzhòng nǐ de rén, bùhuì yīnwèi yīcì jùjué jiù líkāi.
That was when I learned that people who genuinely respect you don't leave over one refusal.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Learning to Say No
Words that contain 才
Each of these has sentences of its own, so you can see the character doing a different job in each one.
Questions about 才
How is 才 used in a sentence?
This page shows 21 sentences using 才 (cái, "Ability (just - only - not until - talent)"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.
Are these sentences machine generated?
No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.
Why do some sentences show 才 inside a longer word?
Because that is where a single character usually lives. Seeing 才 inside the words it builds is how the character stops being an isolated symbol and starts being something you can read.
Is 才 an HSK word?
Yes — 才 is on the official HSK 3 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 3 page.
Where can I see the full entry for 才?
The dictionary page for 才 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.
Keep going
Read the full entry for 才, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 3 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
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