少 shǎo, shào — few, little; to be short of, to be missing; (shào) young
shǎo (third tone, dipping) shào (fourth tone, falling)
2 readings — the first is the most common.
few, little; to be short of, to be missing; (shào) young
4 strokesRadical 小Frequency #136
Pinyin
- shǎo (third tone, dipping)most common
- shào (fourth tone, falling)
few, little; to be short of, to be missing; (shào) young
Character breakdown
Mnemonic
The three specks of 小 with a fourth stroke slicing away to the left: something small with a piece taken off it. Paired with 多 it asks quantity — 多少钱? — and on its own it means "few" or "missing": 很少, 少了一个人. In the fourth tone, shào, it means young: 少年.
A memory aid written by HSK Guide editors. It is not an etymology and does not describe the historical origin of the character.
Words containing 少
- 少shǎo (third tone, dipping)few, little, not much
- 至少zhì (fourth tone, falling) shǎo (third tone, dipping)at least
- 多少duōshao (first tone, high and level)how many, how much
- 不少bù (fourth tone, falling) shǎo (third tone, dipping)many
- 减少減少jiǎn (third tone, dipping) shǎo (third tone, dipping)to lessen
- 少年shào (fourth tone, falling) nián (second tone, rising)early youth
- 少女shào (fourth tone, falling) nǚ (third tone, dipping)girl
- 青少年qīng (first tone, high and level) shào (fourth tone, falling) nián (second tone, rising)adolescent
- 缺少quē (first tone, high and level) shǎo (third tone, dipping)lack
- 少数少數shǎo (third tone, dipping) shù (fourth tone, falling)small number
- 少见少見shǎo (third tone, dipping) jiàn (fourth tone, falling)rare; seldom seen
- 少量shǎo (third tone, dipping) liàng (fourth tone, falling)a smidgen
- 少有shǎo (third tone, dipping) yǒu (third tone, dipping)rare
- 必不可少bì (fourth tone, falling) bù (fourth tone, falling) kě (third tone, dipping) shǎo (third tone, dipping)absolutely necessary
- 或多或少huò (fourth tone, falling) duō (first tone, high and level) huò (fourth tone, falling) shǎo (third tone, dipping)more or less
- 少不了shǎo (third tone, dipping) bu (neutral tone) liǎo (third tone, dipping)cannot do without
- 少儿少兒shào (fourth tone, falling) ér (second tone, rising)child
- 稀少xī (first tone, high and level) shǎo (third tone, dipping)sparse
- 少林寺Shào (fourth tone, falling) lín (second tone, rising) Sì (fourth tone, falling)Shaolin Temple, Buddhist monastery famous for its kung fu monks
- 极少数極少數jí (second tone, rising) shǎo (third tone, dipping) shù (fourth tone, falling)extremely few