少

Learning Chinese: How to Say "Less" in Chinese

Chinese Characters: 少
Pinyin: shǎo
Pronunciation: shao3
English Translation: Less

Usage:

"少 (shǎo)" means "less" or "fewer" in Chinese. It can be used to describe both quantity and degree.

Examples:

Chinese: 我要少放点盐。
Pinyin: Wǒ yào shǎo fàng diǎn yán.
English: I want to put less salt.

Chinese: 今天人比较少。
Pinyin: Jīntiān rén bǐjiào shǎo.
English: There are fewer people today.

Comparative Forms:

"少 (shǎo)" can be used to form comparative sentences.

Chinese: 这个比那个少。
Pinyin: Zhège bǐ nàge shǎo.
English: This is less than that.

Chinese: 他比我少吃了一碗饭。
Pinyin: Tā bǐ wǒ shǎo chīle yī wǎn fàn.
English: He ate one bowl of rice less than me.

Tips for Learning:

Practice saying "少 (shǎo)" out loud to improve your pronunciation.
Pay attention to the tone of "少 (shǎo)" (third tone) to avoid confusion with other words that have different tones.
Use "少 (shǎo)" in your daily conversations to practice using it in context.

Additional Notes:

"少 (shǎo)" can also mean "young" or "immature" when used to describe people.
The opposite of "少 (shǎo)" is "多 (duō)", which means "more" or "many".
"少 (shǎo)" is a common word in Chinese, so it is important to master its pronunciation and usage.