很少
Chinese
| very; rather; quite | young; few; little young; few; little; lack | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| simp. and trad. (很少) |
很 | 少 | |
| Literally: “very few”. | |||
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: hěnshǎo [Phonetic: hénshǎo]
- Zhuyin: ㄏㄣˇ ㄕㄠˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: hěnshǎo
- Wade–Giles: hên3-shao3
- Yale: hěn-shǎu
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: heenshao
- Palladius: хэньшао (xɛnʹšao)
- Sinological IPA (key): /xən²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: han2 siu2
- Yale: hán síu
- Cantonese Pinyin: han2 siu2
- Guangdong Romanization: hen2 xiu2
- Sinological IPA (key): /hɐn³⁵ siːu̯³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Adverb
很少
Usage notes
Few Chinese dictionaries have an entry for this word because it is seen as too obvious a compound of its parts from a Chinese perspective, though it is more opaque from the perspective of speakers of other languages such as English.