Meaning of 不少
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- many; quite a few; a good number of
How to use 不少
不少 usually goes before a noun to mean "quite a few," and it can also follow a verb or stand as a predicate. It sounds softer and more natural than 很多 (hěn duō) when you just mean "a fair amount." Example: 他有不少朋友。(Tā yǒu bù shǎo péngyou.) He has quite a few friends.
不少 is literally 不 (bù, not) plus 少 (shǎo, few). If something is "not few," then there are quite a lot of it.
Common mistake: Learners often add 的 out of habit, as in 不少的朋友. This is not wrong, but 不少朋友 without 的 is more common in everyday speech. Also, 不 stays fourth tone here because 少 is third tone, so say bù shǎo, not bú shǎo.
不少 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
不 bù · no · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
少 shǎo · few · 4 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
Related words
Words that share a character with 不少.
| 对不起 | duìbuqǐ | I'm sorry; excuse me; I beg your pardon; to let (sb) down; to disappoint |
| 是不是 | shì bu shì | is or is not (used to form yes-no questions) |
| 不用 | bùyòng | need not |
| 多少 | duōshao | number; amount; somewhat |
| 不大 | bù dà | not very (clear, far away etc); not too; not often; infrequently |
| 不对 | bùduì | incorrect; wrong |
| 不客气 | bù kèqì | you're welcome; don't mention it |
| 不要 | bùyào | don't!; must not |
| 不过 | bùguò | only; merely |
| 不错 | bùcuò | correct; right |
| 不行 | bùxíng | won't do; be out of the question |
| 不同 | bù tóng | different; distinct |
Questions about 不少
What does 不少 mean?
不少 (bù shǎo) means "many; quite a few; a good number of".
How do you write 不少?
不少 is made of 2 characters: 不 (4 strokes), 少 (4 strokes). That is 8 strokes in total.
Is 不少 an HSK word?
Yes. 不少 is on the HSK 2 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
Can I say 很不少 to mean very many?
No, 很不少 is not used. If you want to stress a large amount, use 很多 (hěn duō) or 真不少 (zhēn bù shǎo), as in 人真不少 (rén zhēn bù shǎo), there really are a lot of people.
What is the difference between 不少 and 不多?
They are opposites. 不少 (bù shǎo) means quite a few, while 不多 (bù duō) means not many. For example, 时间不多了 (shíjiān bù duō le) means there is not much time left.