Comparing "shao" and "xiao"

Both 少 and 小 can translated to mean “little”. In this sense 少 means “little” as small in quantity or number, while 小 means “little” as small in size or magnitude. Yet, each has distinct uses as 少 can also mean “seldom”, “few”, or “less”, and 小 can also mean “young”, “minor”, or “petty”.

A2HSK2ASV4567

	少 (shǎo)	小 (xiǎo)
Meaning	small (quantity or number), seldom, few, less	small (size or magnitude), young, minor, petty
Part of Speech	adjective	adjective
Formality	flexible	flexible

:Yes

To express "small" (size) or "young" use 小

These are fairly obvious, because most of them work as direct translations from Chinese to English.

Common Phrases

• 小孩儿 xiǎoháirlittle child
• 小问题 xiǎo wèntísmall problem
• 小狗 xiǎogǒupuppy, small dog (could be either)

Example Sentences

• 我 有 一 只 小狗。 Wǒ yǒu yī zhǐ xiǎogǒu.I have a puppy.
• 她 有 一 个 小孩儿。 Tā yǒu yī gè xiǎoháir.She has a small child.
• 这 是 一 个 小 问题。 Zhè shì yī gè xiǎo wèntí.This is a small problem.

To express "small" in magnitude learn set phrases

These are a bit tricky because they don't translate directly into English using the word "small" or little, but you nevertheless have to learn them. We won't cover all of these phrases here; we'll just share some of the more common ones.

Common Phrases

• 声音 很 小shēngyīn hěn xiǎo low in volume (lit, "very little sound")
• 雨 很 小yǔ hěn xiǎo light rain (lit, "very little rain")
• 风 很 小fēng hěn xiǎolight wind (lit, "very little win")

Don't use 少 for these meanings.

Example Sentences

• 雨 很 小，不用 带 伞。 Yǔ hěn xiǎo, bùyòng dài sǎn.It rained so little that I didn't need to bring an umbrella.
• 声音 太 小 了，我 听 不到。 Shēngyīn tài xiǎo le, wǒ tīng budào.The sound is so small that I can't hear it.
• 今天 的 风 很 小。 Jīntiān de fēng hěn xiǎo.The wind was very light today.

To express "young" as an adjective use 小

This one you need to watch out for, because as a speaker of English, you're going to want to translate "young" as 年轻 (niánqīng), but in fact 年轻 (niánqīng) only works as the opposite of *old*. So if you just want to say you're slightly younger than someone else (maybe by a year), you need to use 小. If you use 年轻, you're implying that the other person is *old*.

Example Sentences

• 我 比 你 小 两 岁。 Wǒ bǐ nǐ xiǎo liǎng suì.I'm two years younger than you.
• 她 喜欢 比 她 大的 男孩。 Tā xǐhuan bǐ tā dà de nánhái.She likes boys who are older than her.
• 你 妹妹 还 很 小 吧？ Nǐ mèimei hái hěn xiǎo ba?Your sister is still very young, right?
• 谁 是 最 小 的 孩子？ Shéi shì zuì xiǎo de háizi?Who is the youngest child?

少 only means "young" when used in certain nouns

Meanwhile, 少 can also be used to mean "young," but *only in set words* which you'll learn later, such as 少年 (shàonián) or 少女 (shàonǚ). In these words, 少 is pronounced fourth tone ("shào") rather than the usual third tone ("shǎo").

To say "few" or "small" in quantity or number, use 少

Common Phrases

• 朋友 很 少Péngyou hěn shǎo few friends
• 钱 很 少Qián hěn shǎo very little money
• 人 很 少Rén hěn shǎo few people

Obviously, you can't use 小 for these meanings.

Example Sentences

• 我的 钱 太 少 了。 Wǒ de qián tài shǎo le.I have too little money.
• 今天 来 的 人 少。 Jīntiān lái de rén shǎo .Very few people came today.
• 我的 朋友 很 少。 Wǒ de péngyou hěn shǎo.I have very few friends.

To say "seldom" or "rarely", use 少

Pattern

（很）少 + Verb Phrase

Example Sentences

• 最近 我 很 少 出去。 Zuìjìn wǒ hěn hěn shǎo chūqù.I rarely go out these days.
• 老板 很 少 生气。 Lǎobǎn hěn shǎo shēngqì.The boss rarely gets angry.
• 他 很 少 吃 肉。 Tā hěn shǎo chī ròu.He seldom eats meat.

少 also has a usage that comes before verbs when means (to do something) "less." This is an intermediate (B1) grammar point which we won't go into here.

• 你 少 吃 肉。 Nǐ shǎo chī ròu.Eat less meat.

Sources and further reading

AllSet Learning Wikis

• Doing something less with "shao" (Chinese Grammar Wiki)

Websites

• "小" 和 "少" 和有什么不一样? (HiNative)
• 少和小有什么区别? (百度知道)