减 jiǎn — to lower; to decrease; to reduce; to subtract; to diminish
老师教我们做加法和减法。Lǎo shī jiāo wǒ men zuò jiā fǎ hé jiǎn fǎ.The teacher teaches us addition and subtraction.
Common words: 减少 (jiǎn shǎo)、减肥 (jiǎn féi)、减轻 (jiǎn qīng)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "to reduce"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "to reduce", including 减 (jiǎn), 缩 (suō), 削 (xuē / xiāo). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "to reduce" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 减 (jiǎn), 缩 (suō), 削 (xuē / xiāo) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span jiǎn, suō, xuē, xiāo — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 减 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 减 jiǎnto lower; to decrease; to reduce; to subtract; to diminishUseful words: 减少, 减肥
- 缩 suōto withdraw; to pull back; to contract; to shrink; to reduceUseful words: 缩小, 缩短
- 削 xuē / xiāoto scrape; to reduce; to pare (away); to cut (down)Useful words: 削弱, 剥削
Common words for these 3 "to reduce" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 减 (jiǎn) — so "to reduce" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
减少jiǎn shǎoto lessen; to decrease; to reduce; to lower减肥jiǎn féito lose weight减轻jiǎn qīngto lighten; to ease; to alleviate缩小suō xiǎoto reduce; to decrease; to shrink缩短suō duǎnto shorten; to reduce; to curtail收缩shōu suōto pull back; to shrink; to contract; (physiology) systole削弱xuē ruòto weaken; to impair; to cripple剥削bō xuēto exploit; exploitation削发xuē fàto shave one's head; fig. to become a monk or nun; to take the tonsure
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 3 ways to say "to reduce".
缩 suō — to withdraw; to pull back; to contract; to shrink; to reduce
这件毛衣洗完以后缩水了。Zhè jiàn máo yī xǐ wán yǐ hòu suō shuǐ le.This sweater shrank after washing.
Common words: 缩小 (suō xiǎo)、缩短 (suō duǎn)、收缩 (shōu suō)
削 xuē / xiāo — to scrape; to reduce; to pare (away); to cut (down)
他用小刀削了一支铅笔。Tā yòng xiǎo dāo xiāo le yì zhī qiān bǐ.He sharpened a pencil with a small knife.
Common words: 削弱 (xuē ruò)、剥削 (bō xuē)、削发 (xuē fà)
All 3 characters
Open 减、缩、削 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.