Definition
方才 is a formal adverb with two main uses: (1) meaning 'just now' (similar to 刚才 but more literary), and (2) meaning 'only then' or 'not until', used after a condition to indicate that something happens only after that condition is met. It often appears in the pattern 直到...方才... ('not until...').
adv.
just now (formal)only thennot until (after a condition)
Examples
- ，。Tā fāng cái hái zài, xiànzài bù zhīdào qù nǎr le.He was here just now; now I don't know where he went.
- ，方才。Děng dàjiā dōu dào le, wǒmen fāng cái kāishǐ.Only after everyone has arrived will we begin.
- ，。Zhí dào zuótiān, wǒ fāng cái zhīdào zhēnxiàng.Not until yesterday did I know the truth.
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