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Definition 2024


少ない

少ない

Japanese

Kanji in this term
すく(ない)
Grade: 2

Adjective

少ない (-i inflection, hiragana すくない, romaji sukunai)

  1. there are not many, there are few, there is little
    ここは、 (ひと) (すく)ない
    Koko wa, hito ga sukunai.
    Here are few people.
    今年 (ことし)は、 (ゆき) (すく)ない
    Kotoshi wa, yuki ga sukunai.
    It snows little this year.

Usage notes

少ない cannot modify a noun to mean the referents of the noun are few.
  • *少ない人 (wrong: few people)
  • 友達が少ない人 (correct: a person with few friends)
To modify a noun, use 少しの, わずかな, 数少ない, etc.
The negative form has no limitation.
  • 少なくない人 (correct: quite a few people)

Inflection

Antonyms