少
少 — Few
few, little
On’yomiショウ (shou)
Kun’yomiすくない (sukunai)
Kun’yomiすこし (sukoshi)
Stroke order (4 strokes)
Watch the strokes draw themselves in the correct order — numbers mark where each stroke starts. Diagram from KanjiVG (CC BY-SA).
Common words using 少
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 少し | すこし sukoshi | a little; a bit; a small amount |
| 少年 | しょうねん shounen | boy; juvenile; child |
| 少なくとも | すくなくとも sukunakutomo | at least |
| 減少 | げんしょう genshou | decrease; reduction; decline |
| 少数 | しょうすう shousuu | small number; few; minority |
| 少女 | しょうじょ shoujo | girl (usu. between 7 and 17); young lady; female between 17 and 20 years old (ritsuryō period) |
Study notes
少 is a JLPT N4 kanji written with 4 strokes. It is taught in Japanese elementary school (grade 2), so native children learn it early — a good sign it appears everywhere. Ranked #287 of the 2,500 most frequent kanji in newspapers. On’yomi (音読み) are Chinese-derived readings mostly used in compound words; kun’yomi (訓読み) are native Japanese readings, with any highlighted part written in hiragana after the kanji (okurigana).
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