Difference between revisions of "Comparing "shao" and "xiao""

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{{2021-HSK|HSK2}}
 
{{2021-HSK|HSK2}}
  
== To say to small (size or magnitude), young, minor, or petty use 小 ==
+
== 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 ===
 
=== Common Phrases ===
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<div class="liju dapei">
 
<div class="liju dapei">
 
* 小孩儿
 
* 小孩儿
* 小姑娘
 
 
* 小问题
 
* 小问题
* 小河
+
* 小事
 
* 声音很小
 
* 声音很小
 
* 雨很小
 
* 雨很小
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</div>
 
</div>
  
== To say to small (quantity or number), seldom, few, or less use 少 ==
+
=== Example Sentences ===
 +
 
 +
<div class="liju">
 +
*
 +
</div>
 +
 
 +
== 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 ===
 
=== Common Phrases ===
  
 
<div class="liju dapei">
 
<div class="liju dapei">
* 少联系
+
* 声音很小
 +
* 雨很小
 +
</div>
 +
 
 +
Don't use 少 for these meanings.
 +
 
 +
=== Example Sentences ===
 +
 
 +
<div class="liju">
 +
*
 +
</div>
 +
 
 +
== 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 ===
 +
 
 +
<div class="liju">
 +
*
 +
</div>
 +
 
 +
=== 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 ===
 +
 
 +
<div class="liju dapei">
 +
* 朋友很少
 +
* 钱很少
 +
</div>
 +
 
 +
Obviously, you can't use 小 for these meanings.
 +
 
 +
=== Example Sentences ===
 +
 
 +
<div class="liju">
 +
*
 +
</div>
 +
 
 +
== To express "young" as an adjective use 小 ==
 +
 
 +
== To say "seldom" or "rarely", use 少 ==
 +
 
 +
=== Pattern ===
 +
 
 +
<div class="jiegou">
 +
(很)少 + Verb Phrase
 +
</div>
 +
 
 +
=== Example Sentences ===
  
 +
<div class="liju">
 +
*
 
</div>
 
</div>
  

Revision as of 07:37, 16 March 2022

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

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
  • 小问题
  • 小事
  • 声音很小
  • 雨很小
  • 小国
  • 小房子

Example Sentences

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
  • 雨很小

Don't use 少 for these meanings.

Example Sentences

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

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
  • 钱很少

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

Example Sentences

To express "young" as an adjective use 小

To say "seldom" or "rarely", use 少

Pattern

(很)少 + Verb Phrase

Example Sentences

Sources and further reading

Websites