Japanese word

さっき

Pronunciation

Romajisakki

Meaning

  • adverbjust now

Example

さっき田中さんに会いました。sa kki ta naka sa n ni a i ma shi ta

I met Mr. Tanaka just now.

Illustration for さっき (just now)

More examples

さっき見た映画は面白かったです。sa kki mi ta ei ga wa omo shiro ka tta de su

The movie I saw a moment ago was interesting.

Core concept

さっき (sakki) marks a recent past event without stating its exact time.

Common phrases

  • さっきからsa kki ka ra

    since a little while ago

  • さっきまでsa kki ma de

    until a little while ago

  • さっき見たsa kki mi ta

    saw a moment ago

Similar words

先ほどsakihodo: Describes a recent past time in polite speech or writing.
たった今tattaima: Describes something that happened immediately before the present moment.

Definition in Japanese

今より少し前に起こったことを表す語。ima yo ri suko shi mae ni o ko tta ko to o arawa su go

Word origin

さっき (sakki) is conventionally written 先刻 (senkoku, "a short while ago"); 先 (sen, "before") and 刻 (koku, "a moment") together denote an earlier time.

Usage tips

  • Because さっき (sakki) belongs mainly to casual conversation, the more formal 先ほど (sakihodo) often appears in polite speech and writing.

Other meanings

  • earlieradverb

Word lists with this word