Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
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すくない / わずか

すくない / わずか

すくない / わずか Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: い-Adjective

Essential Meaning: Few / A small number of

Construction: い-Adjective

Notes:

  • すくない (少すくない in kanji) is an い-Adjective that means “Few” or “A small number of“. Unlike most い-Adjectives, 少すくない is used as a predicate and can not directly precede a noun (except in cases when 少すくない is the predicate of a relative clause and is therefore not modifying the noun that it precedes).
    • E.g. 木きが少すくない町まちに住すみたくありません。[I don’t want to live in a town that has few trees.] In this example 少すくない modifies 木き rather than 町まち.
  • In English, there is a difference between “Few” and “A few” depending on whether the noun being referred to is restrictive or non-restrictive, as in “Few Americans can speak Japanese” vs “There are a few Americans who can speak Japanese“. The same distinction can be made in Japanese with 少すくない [Few] and すこしは [A few].
    • E.g. 日本語にほんごがわかるアメリカ人じんは少すくない。[There are few Americans who can speak Japanese.]
    • E.g. 日本語にほんごがわかるアメリカ人じんはすこしはいる。[There are a few Americans who can speak Japanese.]
  • わずか(だ) is similar but not identical to 少すくない. Specifically, わずか means “An insignificant number or amount of” and it can be used as an adverb, pre-nominal adjective, or predicate. わずか can only replace 少すくない when it behaves as a predicate.
    • E.g. Adverb: その時とき僕ぼくはわずかに六むっつでした。[At that time, I was merely six years old.]
    • E.g. Pre-nominal Adjective: わずかなお金かねで暮くらしている。[I live on a small amount of money.]
    • E.g. Predicate: 私わたしが持もっているお金かねはわずかだ。[The money that I possess is very small in number.]

Example Sentences:

この町まちはいいレストランが少すくない。[There are few good restaurants in this town.]

この大学だいがくは女子じょし学生がくせいが少すくないです。[There are few female students at this university.]

日本にほんは犯罪はんざいが少すくない。[There are few crimes in Japan.]

日本語にほんごが書かける外国人がいこくじんは大変たいへん少すくない。[There is a very small number of foreigners who can write in Japanese.]

WILD Examples:

Listen to this line from 2:24: あれから一度いちども涙なみだは流ながしてないよ、でも本気ほんきで笑わらうことも少すくない [I haven’t cried once since then, but at the same there have been few things to laugh heartily about]
Listen to this line at 2:52: わずかに見みえた、あの空そらの向むこう [I merely saw it, beyond that sky]
Listen to this line at 0:50: 彼かれはアパートで一人暮ひとりぐらし、趣味しゅみも少すくない [He lives alone in an apartment, and he doesn’t have many hobbies]

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