减少

• Pinyin: jiǎn shǎo
• Hanzi breakdown: 减 = 冫(ice) + 咸 (phonetic) — to reduce; 少 = 小 (small) with a stroke removed — few, little

Meaning

To reduce; to decrease. Making something fewer in number or smaller in amount.

A formal and widely used word for decreasing quantities, frequency, or degree. Common in news, reports, and everyday speech. Collocations include 减少开支 (reduce expenses), 减少污染 (reduce pollution), 减少浪费 (reduce waste). The opposite is 增加 (to increase). More formal than 少了 (became less).

Examples

1. 我们应该减少使用一次性塑料袋。 We should reduce the use of disposable plastic bags.
2. 今年公司的成本减少了不少。 The company's costs have decreased quite a bit this year.
3. 多喝水可以减少生病的机会。 Drinking more water can reduce the chance of getting sick.

Usage Guide

Context: business, environment, health, news

Tone: objective

Do Say

• 怎样才能减少浪费？(How can we reduce waste?)
• 参加的人数减少了很多。(The number of participants has decreased a lot.)

Don't Say

• 请减少这个人 (Don't use 减少 for removing a person — use 开除 for firing or 去掉 for removing from a list)

Origin & History

A compound of 减 (to reduce/subtract) and 少 (few/little), both characters reinforcing the meaning of making something less.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal