小

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small; tiny; few; young

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HSK 3.0: Level 1
Old HSK: Level 1
Strokes: 3
Radical: 小 itself
Structure: Overlaid 叠加
Traditional: 小
Common rank: #25
Unicode: U+5C0F

Sound it out + + =

Formation & memory

Break the character into parts you already know.

How 小 is formed

Ideographic compound (会意字)

Dividing 八 by a line 亅

Components 亅八

How to remember it

small · Heisig RSH #109

a drop of — as a component also called: small

Keyword method from Heisig's Remembering Simplified Hanzi.

Words with 小

The most common words first — learning a character in context makes it stick.

Word	Pinyin	Meaning
小学生	xiǎo xué shēng	primary school student; schoolchild; CL:個\|个[ge4],名[ming2]; (fig.) beginner
小学	xiǎo xué	elementary school; primary school
小时	xiǎo shí	hour; CL:個\|个[ge4]
小孩儿	xiǎo hái r	erhua variant of 小孩[xiao3 hai2]
小姐	xiǎo jie	young lady; miss; (slang) prostitute; CL:個\|个[ge4],位[wei4]
小朋友	xiǎo péng yǒu	child; kid (used to refer to a child, or by an adult to address a child, or, in Taiwan, to…
一不小心	yī bù xiǎo xīn	to be a little bit careless; to have a moment of inattentiveness; accidentally
大小	dà xiǎo	large and small; size; adults and children; consideration of seniority; at any rate
小子	xiǎo zǐ	(literary) youngster; (old) young fellow (term of address used by the older generation); (…
小子	xiǎo zi	(coll.) boy; (derog.) joker; guy; (despicable) fellow
大大小小	dà dà xiǎo xiǎo	large and small; of all sizes
小人	xiǎo rén	person of low social status (old); I, me (used to refer humbly to oneself); nasty person; …
小区	xiǎo qū	housing estate; community; neighborhood; (telecommunications) cell
国小	guó xiǎo	elementary school (Tw); abbr. for 國民小學\|国民小学[guo2 min2 xiao3 xue2]
中小学	zhōng xiǎo xué	middle and elementary school
小头	xiǎo tóu	the smaller part or share of sth
小心	xiǎo xīn	to be careful; to take care
小金县	Xiǎo jīn Xiàn	Xiaojin, a county in Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture 阿壩藏族羌族自治州\|阿坝藏族羌族自治州[A1 …
小儿	xiǎo ér	young child; (humble) my son
小儿	xiǎo r	(coll.) early childhood; (coll.) baby boy

Examples & usage

Real sentences with 小 — read them aloud, then paste your own into the converter.

小心路滑。

Xiǎoxīn lù huá.

Careful, the road is slippery.
小朋友们在公园玩。

Xiǎopéngyoumen zài gōngyuán wán.

The children are playing in the park.

Usage tip: 小 + 名词表示「小的」；但小心不是「小的心」，而是「当心、注意」。