Meaning

Primary

Few

Alternatives

Scarce, Not Much, Not Many

Word Type

い adjective

Explanation

This word has a single kanji with hiragana attached, ending in a . This means you know it's an adjective. What is the adjective form of few? It's also few.

Reading

すくない
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

The reading for this one is fairly difficult, as it's the kun'yomi reading (you can tell it's kun'yomi because of all the hiragana attached). You have to remember the すく part to remember the reading of this word. Think of it this way:

You have a few of something. This something is suckers (すく). Imagine putting all (three-ish) of them in your mouth at once. How does it taste? Can you taste the flavors from each of the few?

Context

Patterns of Use

Common Word Combinations

  • とても少ない

    very few

    かなり少ない

    fairly few

    きわめて少ない

    extremely few

Context Sentences

このエリアには白人やアジア人は少ないです。

There are few Caucasians and Asians in this area.

のこり少ないトイレットペーパー、大切にしよう。

Let's cherish the toilet paper as there's not much left.

友人が少ないことは、わるいことじゃない。

It's not a bad thing to have few friends.

Kanji Composition