Meaning
few; little; lack; young
Chinese: 数量少；读 shào 时表示年少。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “shao” becomes a different word in each tone. 少 is the 3rd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 多少duō shǎonumber; amount; somewhat
- 不少bù shǎomany; quite a few; a good number of
- 少年shào niánearly youth; youngster; (literary) youth; young man
- 青少年qīng shào niánadolescent; youth; teenager
- 少数shǎo shùsmall number; few; minority
Example Sentence
今天路上的车很少。Jīn tiān lù shàng de chē hěn shǎo.There are few cars on the road today.
今天Jīn tiāntoday路上lù shàngon the road的deof车chēcar很hěnvery少shǎofew。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Based on 小 (‘small’) with one more stroke, taking the meaning a step further to ‘few / little (in amount)’.
A way to remember it
Small, with a stroke shaved off — even less.
Easy to confuse with
- 小‘Small’: the same shape with one fewer stroke.