减少

• 拼音: jiǎn shǎo
• 汉字拆解: 减 = 冫(ice) + 咸 (phonetic) — to reduce; 少 = 小 (small) with a stroke removed — few, little

含义

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).

例句

1. 我们应该减少使用一次性塑料袋。
2. 今年公司的成本减少了不少。
3. 多喝水可以减少生病的机会。

用法指南

语境: business, environment, health, news

语气: objective

正确说法

• 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.)

错误说法

• 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)

起源与历史

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

文化背景

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal