少 — how to write the kanji for “few”
少 (“few” and “little”) is a JLPT N4 kanji taught in second grade in Japan. In newspapers it is the 287th most used kanji. KanjiVG finds it inside 38 other kanji, 歩 (“walk”) among them. On its own it is the word shou, “small; little”. Read shou, it forms 少年 (“boy”), 少数 (“small number”) and 減少 (“decrease”); the native reading suko-shi gives 少し (“a little”). Chinese reads it shǎo, “few”, at HSK 1.
- Strokes
- 4
- JLPT
- N4
- Radical
- 小 (“little”)
- On
- ショウ
- Kun
- すく·ない, すこ·し
Stroke by stroke
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Its parts: 小 (“little”, its radical), strokes 1–3; 丿 (“slash”), stroke 4, each finished before the next.
- Vertical hook ㇚topdownwards
- Left-falling stroke ㇒top leftdown and left
- Dot ㇔top rightdown and right
- Left-falling stroke ㇒rightdown and left
Japanese and Chinese
Japanese and Chinese draw all 4 strokes in the same order and direction, by our stroke-by-stroke comparison.
少 inside other kanji
KanjiVG count: 38 kanji.
Trace it
Follow the numbers. Tracing help
Readings
- On (Chinese-derived)
- ショウ shou
- Kun (native)
- すく·ない suku-nai, すこ·し suko-shi
- Meanings
- few; little
- Read shou
- 少年 少数 減少 少女 多少 青少年
- Read suko-shi
- 少し
- Read suku-nai
- 少なくとも
- School year
- second grade
- Newspaper rank
- 287th of 2,500 (KANJIDIC2)
- Korean hanja
- 소 so
- Common words
- 25 in JMdict
Words with 少
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 少し | すこし sukoshi | a little; a bit |
| 少年 | しょうねん shounen | boy; juvenile |
| 少なくとも | すくなくとも sukunakutomo | at least |
| 少数 | しょうすう shousuu | small number; few |
| 減少 | げんしょう genshou | decrease; reduction |
| 少女 | しょうじょ shoujo | girl; young lady |
| 多少 | たしょう tashou | a little; some |
| 青少年 | せいしょうねん seishounen | young people (ages 12 to 25); youth |
| 少量 | しょうりょう shouryou | small quantity; small amount |
| 最年少 | さいねんしょう sainenshou | youngest |
Most common first (JMdict).
Practice sheet
Print at 100%. Several kanji: worksheet maker.
Keep going
Same parts:
JLPT N4, in list order: