How to write 小 (xiǎo, “small”)
小 (xiǎo), an HSK 1 character, means “small”, “tiny” and “few”. Make Me a Hanzi uses it in 23 other characters, such as 东 (“east”), 乐 (“happy”) and 少 (“few”). On its own it is an HSK 1 word; it also forms 小学 (“elementary school”), 小时 (“hour”) and 小学生 (“primary school student”). Japanese reads it ko-, “little”, as a JLPT N5 kanji.
- Pinyin
- xiǎo
- Strokes
- 3
- HSK
- 1
- Radical
- 小 (“small”)
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
As an overlapping character it splits into 亅 (“hook”), stroke 1; 八 (“eight”), strokes 2–3, written the first part first.
- Vertical hook ㇚topdownwards → leftwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒leftdown and left
- Dot ㇔rightdown and right
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 3 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
小 inside other characters
Make Me a Hanzi count: 23 characters.
Trace it
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Pinyin and meaning
| Pinyin | Meanings | Traditional | In words |
|---|---|---|---|
| xiǎo third tone | small; tiny; few; young | — | 小学 小时 小学生 小朋友 |
- HSK 2025 syllabus
- level 1
- 2021 standard
- level 1
- HSK 2.0
- in a level 1 word
- Words with it
- 546 in CC-CEDICT
Words with 小
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 小 | xiǎo | small; tiny HSK 1 |
| 小学 小學 | xiǎoxué | elementary school; primary school HSK 1 |
| 小时 小時 | xiǎoshí | hour HSK 1 |
| 小学生 小學生 | xiǎoxuéshēng | primary school student; schoolchild HSK 1 |
| 小朋友 | xiǎopéngyǒu | child; kid… HSK 1 |
| 小时候 小時候 | xiǎoshíhou | in one's childhood HSK 2 |
| 从小 從小 | cóngxiǎo | from childhood; from a young age HSK 2 |
| 大小 | dàxiǎo | large and small; size HSK 3 |
| 小区 小區 | xiǎoqū | housing estate; community HSK 3 |
| 小心 | xiǎoxīn | to be careful; to take care HSK 3 |
HSK words first (CC-CEDICT).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several characters: worksheet maker.
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Contain it:
HSK 1, in list order: