少

Few in Chinese: 少 (shǎo)

shǎo

few

HSK 12 example sentences

Definitions

  1. 1few
  2. 2less
  3. 3to lack
  4. 4to be missing
  5. 5to stop (doing sth)
  6. 6seldom

Stroke order

Watch how to write 少 stroke by stroke.

少

Zhuyin

This word’s pronunciation in Bopomofo.

Learn how to read Zhuyin

ㄕㄠˇ

shǎo

ㄕ/ shㄠ/ aoˇ/ third tone

Example sentences

See 少 used in real sentences with pinyin and English translations.

  • 少管闲事!

    shǎo guǎn xián shì!

    Mind your own business!

  • 少了什么？

    shǎo le shén me？

    What is missing?

Spotted a mistake?

Related words

多少

duō shǎo

number

减少

jiǎn shǎo

to lessen

缺少

quē shǎo

lack

至少

zhì shǎo

at least

不少

bù shǎo

many

少年

shào nián

early youth

少数

shǎo shù

small number

少儿

shào ér

child

少见

shǎo jiàn

rare

少量

shǎo liàng

a smidgen

少女

shào nǚ

girl

少有

shǎo yǒu

rare

Appears in

HSK 1 vocabulary listHSK 2 vocabulary listHSK 3 vocabulary listHSK 3.0 Level 1 vocabulary listHSK 4 vocabulary listHSK 5 vocabulary list

Learn 少 with spaced repetition

Add 少 (shǎo) to your review queue and the FSRS algorithm will schedule it exactly when you're about to forget — then meet it again in a short AI-generated story written at your level.

Start learning free

No credit card required · Free tier included