小しょう人にん

しょ

う

に

ん

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

child (elementary school age or younger)

Used especially in contexts such as admission fees, passenger fares, and age-based categories, contrasting with 中人 (ちゅうにん, middle school age) and 大人 (だいにん, adult).

See also: 中人 (ちゅうにん) · 大人 (だいにん)

小しょう人にん料りょう金きんは大人おとなの半はん額がくです。
The child fare is half the adult price.
この施し設せつの小しょう人にんは小しょう学がく生せい以い下かを指さします。
At this facility, 'child' refers to elementary school students and younger.

See all 5 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈場ば所しょ〉の入にゅう場じょう料りょうは小しょう人にん〈数かず〉円えんthe child admission fee at 〈場所〉 is 〈数〉 yen
この動どう物ぶつ園えんの入にゅう場じょう料りょうは大人おとな800円えん、小しょう人にん400円えんです。
Admission to this zoo is 800 yen for adults and 400 yen for children.
〈場ば所しょ〉は小しょう人にん無む料りょうchildren get in free at 〈場所〉
この美び術じゅつ館かんは小しょう人にん無む料りょうです。
Children get in free at this art museum.

Kanji

小little, small
人person

Opposites

大だい人にん
小人 is the child fare/age category, while 大人 (だいにん) is the corresponding adult category in the same ticket or admission pricing system.

Don't confuse with

商しょう人にんN3
小人 (しょうにん, child fare category) is a homophone of 商人 (しょうにん, merchant); they share pronunciation but have completely unrelated meanings.
小こ人びと
Written identically as 小人, this word is read こびと and means 'dwarf' or 'little person', unlike しょうにん which refers to a child fare category.

Counted with

人にん
Used to count children (小人/しょうにん), typically with 人（にん）.

Etymology

Composed of 小 (small) and 人 (person), literally 'small person'. The reading しょうにん is a Sino-Japanese compound.