Doing something less with "shao"

Nível: HSK 4 | Categoria: Gramática

Explicação da Regra:

The word 少 (shǎo) can mean "few," but when placed before a verb, it takes on the meaning of "less" as in "to do less (of something)." It is often heard when scolding or giving advice (like when parents talk to children). What's not intuitive to learners is that the word 少 should come before the verb. Just as you can use 多 to talk about doing something more , you can use 少 to talk about doing something less . Note that in English, we don't use the word "less" very much. For example, rather than saying "drink less water," we might say "don't drink so much water." In Chinese, though, using 少 is quite natural and common. Avoiding the negative command (telling someone not to do something) is also a subtle way of sounding less bossy and annoying in Chinese. These set phrases are worth special note, because although they follow the grammar pattern, they might not make sense to you without a little extra explanation, just like the meaning of "come on" might not make sense at first to someone learning English.

Exemplos com Falantes Nativos:

• 少说废话！ (shǎo shuō fèihuà ！): "Stop talking nonsense!"

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