DICTIONARY
The Chinese word shao - 少 - shǎo
(less in Chinese)
Phonetic script (Hanyu Pinyin)
shǎo
Listen to pronunciation
(Mandarin = standard Chinese without accent)
Note: This Chinese character can also be pronounced shào. However, with a different pronunciation, the meaning of the character will change as well (not yet available in this dictionary).
English translations
less, little, a little, to be missing (things), deficient
Chinese character and stroke order animation"How do I write 少 ( shǎo ) correctly?"
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The strokes that all Chinese characters are composed of are to be written in a certain order which has originally been defined by Chinese calligraphy. Writing all characters according to the same rules assures that their intended shape and style are generally preserved even if written by different writers.
This dictionary shows you the correct stroke order as an animation for all characters so you can learn and understand how to write the character correctly. :
The traditional Chinese characters of shǎo are identical with the modern (simplified) characters displayed above.
Chinese Pinyin example sentence with 少 ( shao / shǎo ) ⓘWriting in Pinyin
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Before using this Pinyin example sentence, consider that Chinese characters should always be your first choice in written communication.
If you cannot use Chinese characters, it is preferable to use the Pinyin with tones. Only use the Pinyin without tones if there's no other option (e.g. writing a text message from/to a mobile phone that doesn't support special characters such as ā, í, ǒ, ù).
Jintian lai de ren hen shao.
Jīntiān lái de rén hěn shǎo.– English translation: Very few people came today.
Learn 少 ( shao / shǎo ) with our vocabulary trainer
Character complexity
少 is composed of 4 strokes and therefore is of very low complexity compared to the other simplified Chinese characters (average: 13.1 strokes).
Tags and additional information
(Meaning of individual characters, character components etc.)
to be short of | minority
少 ( shao / shǎo ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 182)
少 ( shao / shǎo ) belongs to the 500 most common Chinese characters (rank 182)
Chinese example words containing the character 少 ( shao / shǎo )
Report missing or erroneous translation of shao in English
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Version 5.52 / Last updated: 2026-11-03