(shǎo) - few, little; to lack in Mandarin
shǎoTraditional: 少
Translation
few, little; to lack
Word origin
A pictograph of small marks, conveying a small amount. It means few or little, and in the third tone reads shǎo.
- Origin
- pictograph
- Root
- small marks indicating a small quantity
Stroke order
少
Examples
。
He says very little.
。
Very few people came today.
。
There is one book missing from the desk.
。
Drink a little less alcohol.
雪。
It rarely snows here.
少 (shǎo) means few, little, or to lack. In the fourth tone, shào, it means young, as in 少年.
Where this fits
Appears in 3 words
Multi-character compounds in the corpus that contain 少.
Used in
Stories
(1)Grammar articles
(5)Asking How + Adjective in Mandarin with 多: 多高, 多远, 多长, 多大
Mandarin Question Words: 什么 (shénme), 谁 (shéi), 哪 (nǎ) and Friends Stay Where the Answer Goes
Mandarin Numbers, Time, Dates, and Currency: From 1 to 1,000,000, the 二/两 Split, and Time-Before-Verb
Mandarin Question Formation: 吗, V-Not-V, 还是, and the In-Situ Wh-Word System
无论 and 不管 in Mandarin: The No Matter What Frame (无论/不管 ... 都/也)
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少: worksheet, infographic and listicle
Free printable study downloads for the Mandarin word "少" (few, little; to lack): a worksheet with the answer key built in, an infographic, and a sentence listicle. Open any one to view, print or save.
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Start your free weekThis word is part of lesson 24.