HSK 3.0 Level 2 · Time

从小 cóngxiǎo “from childhood” in Chinese

Traditional 從小

What 从小 means

  1. from childhood
  2. from a young age

How to say 从小

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale从cóng2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale小xiǎo3rd tone, dipping

从小 in a sentence

  1. 好习惯是从小养成的。

    Hǎo xíguàn shì cóngxiǎo yǎngchéng de.

    Good habits are formed in childhood.

    Sentence #332909 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我和他从小就是好朋友了。

    Wǒ hé tā cóngxiǎo jiù shì hǎo péngyou le.

    He and I have been good friends since we were children.

    Sentence #339495 from Tatoeba · converted to simplified characters

  3. 汤姆从小就认识玛丽了。

    Tāngmǔ cóngxiǎo jiù rènshi Mǎlì le.

    Tom has known Mary since childhood.

    Sentence #1235248 from Tatoeba

How 从小 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 从 (cóng) with each of its parts in a different colour
从cóngfrom; through; via
  • 人person · rén
  • 人person · rén

Memory aidOne person 人 following another 人: to follow, from.

The character 小 (xiǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
小xiǎosmall
  • 亅hook · jué
  • 八eight · bā

Memory aidThree small strokes, like grains: small.

How to write 从小

从 4 strokes · 小 3 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

从小 (cóngxiǎo) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 从小 (cóngxiǎo). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 从小

Words with 从

从cóng · from从来cónglái · always从此cóngcǐ · from now on从前cóngqián · previously从事cóngshì · to engage in从而cóng'ér · thus自从zìcóng · since (a time)服从fúcóng · to obey从容cóngróng · calm

Words with 小

小xiǎo · small小姐xiǎojiě · miss小学xiǎoxué · elementary school小学生xiǎoxuéshēng · primary school student小朋友xiǎopéngyǒu · child小时xiǎoshí · hour小孩儿xiǎoháir · child小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood小心xiǎoxīn · be careful小区xiǎoqū · residential estate

More words: Time & Dates

晚wǎn · evening星期日Xīngqīrì · Sunday星期天Xīngqītiān · Sunday早zǎo · early过年guònián · to celebrate the Chinese New Year时shí · o’clock小时候xiǎoshíhou · in one’s childhood有时yǒushí · sometimes

FAQs

从小 (cóngxiǎo) means “from childhood” or “from a young age”. It is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word.
Say it cóngxiǎo: cóng with a 2nd tone, then xiǎo with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 从小 is written 從小. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type congxiao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 从小 from the suggestions. Typing congxiao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
从小 is an HSK 3.0 Level 2 word in the official 2021 syllabus, and it is on our HSK 3.0 Band 2 word list. It is not on the older HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.