HSK 4 · Verbs

减少 jiǎnshǎo “to lessen” in Chinese

Said as jiánshǎo

Traditional 減少

What 减少 means

  1. to lessen
  2. to decrease
  3. to reduce
  4. to lower

How to say 减少

  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale减jiǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale少shǎo3rd tone, dipping

Said as jiánshǎo. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. How tone changes work

减少 in a sentence

  1. 日本的人口在减少。

    Rìběn de rénkǒu zài jiǎnshǎo.

    Japan’s population is shrinking.

    Sentence #8932010 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我这个月要减少开支。

    Wǒ zhè ge yuè yào jiǎnshǎo kāizhī.

    I need to cut back on spending this month.

    Sentence #351246 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 最近我的体重减少了。

    Zuìjìn wǒ de tǐzhòng jiǎnshǎo le.

    I’ve lost weight recently.

    Sentence #12422457 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 减少 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 减 (jiǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
减jiǎnto lower
  • 冫ice · bīngMeaning part
  • 咸all · xiánSound part

冫 hints at the meaning (ice); 咸 (xián) hints at the sound. Compare it with jiǎn.

The character 少 (shǎo) with each of its parts in a different colour
少shǎofew
  • 小small · xiǎo
  • 丿slash · piě

Memory aidSmall 小 with one more stroke 丿: few, little.

How to write 减少

减 11 strokes · 少 4 strokes

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

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

Words related to 减少

Words with 减

减肥jiǎnféi · to lose weight

Words with 少

少shǎo · few多少duōshǎo · how many不少bùshǎo · quite a few缺少quēshǎo · lack至少zhìshǎo · at least青少年qīngshàonián · adolescent

More words: Common Verbs

继续jìxù · to continue寄jì · to send坚持jiānchí · to persevere with减肥jiǎnféi · to lose weight降低jiàngdī · to reduce交jiāo · to hand over接受jiēshòu · to accept节约jiéyuē · to economise

FAQs

减少 (jiǎnshǎo) means “to lessen” or “to decrease”. It is an HSK 4 word.
Say it jiǎnshǎo: jiǎn with a 3rd tone, then shǎo with a 3rd tone. In speech it sounds like jiánshǎo. When two third tones meet, the first one rises into a second tone. You still write it with two third tones. 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, 减少 is written 減少. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type jianshao with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 减少 from the suggestions. Typing jianshao into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
减少 is an HSK 4 word in the 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.