少
少

few, little

4 strokesFrequency 287JLPT N4Grade 2

On

ショウ

Kun

すく.ないすこ.し

Memory

Memory Mnemonics

Keywords

few

Constituents

丶drop
小little
小small

Mnemonic Stories

The little alien's spaceship ran on drop-sized black holes. 'Only a few left!' he panicked, feeding one into the engine. It exploded into a galaxy of glitter, leaving him with few options.

Few usually refers to 3. To emphasize this, we can underline the 3 strokes of little.

Dictionary

Common Words

少しすこし寡し些しAdverbFreq #133
1

a little; a bit; a small amount; a few; some; slightly; somewhat

Examples
子供に少し愛情を注いで見給え、すると君におびただしい愛情が戻ってくる。
Give a little love to a child, and you get a great deal back.
2

a little while; a short time; a moment; a minute

Examples
少しテレビを見てもいいですか。
Do you mind if I watch TV for a while?
3

a little way; a short distance

少ないすくない尠い寡い～い Adj.Freq #393
1

few; little; small (amount); low; scarce; insufficient; seldom; rare

Examples
この病気に勝てる人は少ない。
Not many survive this disease.
もう少しもうすこしExpressionFreq #761
1

a bit more; a bit longer

Examples
もう少しケーキを召し上がりませんか。
Will you have some more cake?
少しでもすこしでもExpressionFreq #1266
1

even a little; any at all; if only a little; no matter how little

少女しょうじょ小女NounFreq #1306
1

girl (usu. between 7 and 17); young lady

2

Archaic

female between 17 and 20 years old (ritsuryō period)

少年しょうねんNounFreq #1348
1

boy

Examples
少年は木に自分の名前を刻んだ。
The boy carved his name on the tree.
2

Usu. in legal contexts

juvenile; child

多少たしょうFreq #1575
1

Adverb (fukushi); Nouns which may take the genitive case particle 'no'

a little; some; somewhat; slightly; to some degree; to some extent

Examples
今朝は空気が多少冷たい。
The air feels somewhat cold this morning.
スープに多少の塩が必要だと思う。
I think the soup needs a bit of salt.
2

Common noun

amount; quantity; number

少しずつ少しづつすこしずつ (少しずつ)すこしづつ (少しづつ)AdverbFreq #1771
1

little by little; bit by bit

Examples
彼は少しずつよくなっています。
He is getting better bit by bit.
少々しょうしょう少少小々小小NounAdverbFreq #1840
1

a little; a bit; a small amount; a few; a pinch; some

Examples
ぼくは少々君に腹が立っているんだ。
I'm a little angry with you.
2

a little while; a short time; a moment; a minute; a second

ほんの少しほんのすこしAdverbExpressionFreq #3340
1

just a little

Examples
私はほんの少しのところで飛行機に乗り遅れてしまった。
I missed the airplane by a minute.
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