小 means “small”

Watch: Gen and Shibamaru learn 小

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Where 小 comes from

小 is often explained as three small dots or grains.

Stroke order (3 strokes)

1. 1
2. 2
3. 3

Words with 小

• 

  小さいちいさい

  CHIISAI

  small

• 

  小学校しょうがっこう

  SHOUGAKKOU

  elementary school

• 

  小鳥ことり

  KOTORI

  little bird

• 

  小銭こぜに

  KOZENI

  coins

The part of each word written with 小 is shown in orange. Audio: the readings from our video.

Reading tips

• 小 is read しょう (SHOU) in 小学校 (SHOUGAKKOU, elementary school), and こ (KO) at the start of words like 小鳥 (KOTORI, little bird).
• 小銭 (KOZENI) is small change: the coins in your pocket.

Other readings of 小

• お小川 おがわ OGAWA stream

These readings are not in the video. You will meet them later.

In the video

• Genしばまるは 小さいな！You're so small, Shibamaru!
• Shibamaruゲンも 小さいよYou're small too, Gen!

The coins in the video are toy money drawn for the show, not real Japanese money.

Example sentences

• この くつは 小さいです。

  KONO KUTSU WA CHIISAI DESU.

  These shoes are small.

• 小銭が ありますか。

  KOZENI GA ARIMASU KA.

  Do you have any coins?

Keep learning kanji

• GENKI I Textbook (3rd Edition)

  Beginner

  A popular first textbook used in many university courses. Each lesson has a dialogue, grammar explanations in English, and plenty of practice.

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• Japanese from Zero! 1

  Absolute beginner

  Starts from zero. Romaji is replaced by hiragana as you learn each one, so you are reading kana before you know it.

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