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少 shǎo — “few”

How to write and say the Chinese character 少 (shǎo), which means few — with stroke order, audio, its story, and an example sentence. Theme: Numbers & counting.

Pinyin · 拼音 shǎo
Meaning · 意思 few
Strokes · 笔画 4
Radical · 部首 小 (small)
Hear it · 听发音
Watch it drawn stroke by stroke →

Stroke order笔顺

少 is written with 4 strokes, in this order (the red stroke is the one being added):

The story behind it字源小故事

A little picture: grains of sand; 小 provides the pronunciation and meaning.

A common word常用词

多duō少shǎo

how many?

Example sentence例句

这zhè本běn书shū多duō少shǎo钱qián?

How much is this book?

This page is part of the free Chinese character explorer from Casey Foundation Chinese School — a Saturday community Chinese school in Narre Warren, Victoria, serving Berwick, Cranbourne, Hallam and families across Melbourne's southeast. New students get a free trial lesson.