少すくない

す

く

な

い

Common wordJLPTN5Freq.FrequencyTop 1,000

Meanings

1

i-adjective

few; little; scarce; insufficient

Describes a small number, amount, or degree of something. Often used with nouns marked by が or は. Can also express that something happens infrequently.

この町まちには公こう園えんが少すくない。
There are few parks in this town.
今

こん

月げつ

は

残ざん

業ぎょう

が

少すく

なかっ

た

。

I had little overtime this month.

彼かれはめったに怒おこらない。怒おこることが少すくない人ひとだ。

He rarely gets angry. He is a person who seldom gets angry.

Written forms

少すくないUsage95%
Standard kanji spelling; the most frequent and recommended form.
すくないUsage3%
少すくないUsage2%
search-only kanji form
Search-only variant; not a standard spelling.
尠すくないUsage<1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; learners should recognize but not produce it.
尠すくないUsage<1%
search-only kanji form
Search-only variant; not a standard spelling.
寡すくないUsage<1%
rarely-used kanji form
Rarely used kanji form; learners should recognize but not produce it.

Kanji

少few, little
尠at least, not a little
寡widow, minority, few

Similar words

多おおい
Antonym; means 'many' or 'much', the opposite of 少ない.
少すこし
Adverb meaning 'a little' or 'a few'; 少ない is an adjective describing a state, while 少し modifies verbs or adjectives.
少すくなくとも
Adverb meaning 'at least'; derived from the adverbial form of 少ない.

Etymology

Derived from classical Japanese adjective すくなし (sukunashi), which already carried the meaning 'few, little'. The modern form 少ない (sukunai) is the regular development of the ク-adjective conjugation.