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

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* 我有一只<em>小狗</em>。
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* 我 有 一 只 <em>小 狗</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Wǒ yǒu yī zhǐ <em> xiǎogǒu </em>.</span>
* 这里有一个<em>小孩儿</em>。
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* 这里 有 一 个 <em>小孩儿</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Zhèlǐ yǒu yī gè <em> xiǎoháir </em>.</span>
* 这是一个<em>小问题</em>。
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* 这 是 一 个 <em>小 问题</em>。 <span class="pinyin">Zhè shì yī gè <em> xiǎo wèntí </em>.</span>
 
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Revision as of 00:55, 25 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
  • 小狗

Example Sentences

  • 我 有 一 只 小 狗Wǒ yǒu yī zhǐ xiǎogǒu .
  • 这里 有 一 个 小孩儿Zhèlǐ yǒu yī gè xiǎoháir .
  • 这 是 一 个 小 问题Zhè shì yī gè xiǎo wèntí .

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

  • 雨很小,不用带伞。
  • 声音太小了,我听不到。

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。
  • 她喜欢比她大的男孩。
  • 你妹妹还很小吧?

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
  • 人很少

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

Example Sentences

  • 我的钱太少了。
  • 今天来的人很少。
  • 我的朋友很少。

To say "seldom" or "rarely", use 少

Pattern

(很)少 + Verb Phrase

Example Sentences

  • 最近我很少出去。
  • 他很少吃肉。
  • 老板很少生气。

Sources and further reading

Websites