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¿Is the use of как раз with a past imperfective synonymous with только что in the following example:

Я как раз разгова́ривал с твое́й до́чкой.

I was just having a talk with your daughter.

Or is it limitative in this sentence, i.e. that's all I was doing!

3 Answers 3

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Yes, it is synonymous to "только что", but it does not matter whether the past or present, imperfective or perfective is present. As far as I can remember right now, it means a very close position, juxtaposition, coincidence of almost anything (subjects, actions, sizes, you name it) — literally and figuratively.

Some examples:

Here the talk with someone's daughter ended right before these words were said/written, so they, the conversation and the words almost coincided:

Я как раз разговаривал с твое́й дочкой.

I was just having a talk with your daughter.

Here the talk with someone's daughter is going exactly at the moment when these words were said/written, so they, the conversation and the words coincided in time:

Я как раз разговариваю с твое́й дочкой.

I am just having a talk with your daughter.

Here the size of the shoes and the size of the speaker's feet coincided:

Эти ботинки как раз мне подходят.

These shoes are exactly/right for me.

Here the fact or forecast of a rain coincided with implied weather opposite to the shiny weather:

Будет ли солнце? Как раз наоборот, будет дождь.

Will it be shiny? Exactly the opposite, it will be raining.


I think, it's important to note, that как раз in some situations can be used with some words in a sentence omitted, but I'm not sure whether such cases are not part of a broader issue in speech, not related directly to "как раз". In such situations the omitted/implied part of a sentence should be clear from the context:

Here the word "подходят" has to be inferred:

Как ботинки? Как раз [подходят]

How are the shoes? They fit fine.

Here the word "наоборот" has to be inferred:

Будет ли солнце? Как раз [наоборот] будет дождь.

Will it be shiny? Quite the opposite, it will be raining.

or

John: Это далеко; It is far away

Kate: (Нет,) как раз близко; (No,) right the opposite, it is near

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  • Thank you for your answer. So if I understand correctly, it can have a temporal and serendipitous interpretation at the same time? In other words, только что only refers to "when" something took place, without the overtone of serendipity?
    – CocoPop
    Commented Feb 28, 2017 at 13:32
  • @CocoPop, sorry, I did not understand your comment fully, but I've edited the answer in an attempt to explain the examples. I did not understand the meaning of the word "serendipity" in the comment. Actually, I do not see any serendipity in the examples. The idea is that "как раз" always (though I'm not sure there are no exceptions to this) means something "coincides" with something other. But what word or words is more proper than "coincide" should be surmised from the context. I mean you do not say "the shoe coincided with my foot", you say "It fits perfectly" or something like that
    – d.k
    Commented Feb 28, 2017 at 14:02
  • Sorry for the confusion :) Your examples and explanations are wonderful. Thank you again!
    – CocoPop
    Commented Feb 28, 2017 at 14:04
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    And from the meaning of "как раз" in a certain context you can find appropriate synonyms to it. In your example "только что" fits. But in another situation something else has to be used
    – d.k
    Commented Feb 28, 2017 at 14:05
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    @CocoPop, no, no pause at all in that example
    – d.k
    Commented Feb 28, 2017 at 14:39
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It doesn't necessarily mean только что.

It references previous discussion and means that the new fact is related to it and is convenient.

I.e. you won't begin talking with such a phrase, so I can infer that it's not the beginning of the discussion and that the daughter was already discussed and there probably were some plans regarding her and that the speaker has, conveniently, just had a chat with aforementioned daugter, probably on a related topic.

"Как раз" also generally means "just right".

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Я как раз разгова́ривал с твое́й до́чкой.

I was just having a talk with your daughter.

or:
I have just spoken with your daughter.
Я как раз на днях разгова́ривал с твое́й до́чкой.
I have (just) spoken with your daughter recently.

Я как раз заварил чай, как знал/как будто знал , что вы придете.
Эти трусы тебе как раз/в самый раз.
Лето пришло, а я как раз подстригся.
Это как раз то, что нужно.
Джейн испекла торт, а Джек как раз скачал лицензионную копию фильма.
Этот клоунский нос тебе как раз/в самый раз.
Когда Владимир пришел на остановку, автобус как раз подъехал.
Мне как раз не хватало одного рубля до миллиона, спасибо, что подарил.

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