How to say 'Few' or 'Little' in Japanese | 少ない

Wondering how to say 'Few' or 'Little' in Japanese? You're in the right place!

The Japanese word for Few or Little is 'Sukunai', written as 少ない in Japanese.'Few' or 'Little' in hiragana is すくない.

word

少ない

Meaning

Few, Little

Reading

すくない

sukunai

Kanji

少Few

Explanation

The Japanese adjective '少ない (すくない)' means 'few' or 'little', depending on the context. It is used to describe a small quantity or amount of something, whether countable or uncountable. This adjective is often used in everyday conversation to express scarcity or insufficiency. For example: There are few people in the park「公園に人が少ない」(こうえんにひとがすくない). I have little money「お金が少ない」(おかねがすくない). Note that '少ない' is typically used in negative contexts to indicate a lack of something, and it can be applied to both tangible and intangible things.

Part Of Speech

adjective

Kanji JLPT

Kanji Grade

Frequency

282

Composition

kanji-hiragana

Handwriting

This word is an i-adjective. To learn how it transforms in different tenses and forms, explore all its conjugations.

Kanji in the Word 少ない

This word contains 1 kanji character:

kanji

少

Meaning

Few

Hiragana in the Word 少ない

This word contains 2 Hiragana characters :

hiragana

な

Reading

hiragana

い

Reading

Words Related to 少ない Through the Kanji 少

These 10 Words contain the Kanji 少 as well.

word

少し

Meaning

A little

word

少しも

Meaning

Not at all

word

少々

Meaning

Slightly

word

少年

Meaning

Boy

word

少女

Meaning

Girl

word

少なくとも

Meaning

At least

word

少量

Meaning

Small amount

word

減少

Meaning

Decrease

word

少数

Meaning

Minority

word

多少

Meaning

Somewhat

Learn the Word 少ない

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What does 'Sukunai' (少ない) mean?

'Sukunai' means 'Few' or 'Little' .

To help you master this word, here's an interactive lesson where you'll practice its readings and meanings.