What does “sukunai” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “sukunai” to mean ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese. Perhaps, some Japanese learners know this word as it is sometimes used in Japanese conversations. In this blog post, however, I will explain it together with its major conjugations. And also, I will explain how to use them through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners use “sukunai” more properly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
- Definition and meanings of “sukunai”
- Sukunakunai: the nai form of “sukunai”
- Sukunakatta: the ta form of “sukunai”
- Sukunakute: the te form of “sukunai”
- Sukunakereba: the ba form of “sukunai”
- Summary
Definition and meanings of “sukunai”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “sukunai”.
- sukunai – 少ない (すくない) : an i-adjective meaning ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese.
Japanese native speakers use this i-adjective to describe a small number or amount of things or people.
The definition and meanings are not that difficult, I think. Then, let me explain how to use this i-adjective through the example sentence below.
Example #1: how to say “a few” in Japanese
watashi tachi no gakkou no seito wa sukunai – 私達の学校の生徒は少ない (わたしたちのがっこうのせいとはすくない)
There are a few students in our school.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- tachi – 達 (たち) : a suffix used after a noun or pronoun to make its plural form. In the example, this is used after “watashi” to make its plural form, “watashi tachi”, which means ‘we’ in Japanese. Learn more about Japanese plural.
- no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, the first “no” is used after “watashi tachi” to make its possessive case, “watashi tachi no”, which means ‘our’ in Japanese.
- gakkou – 学校 (がっこう) : a noun meaning ‘school’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
- no – の : a case particle joining two nouns or noun equivalent words. Normally, the first one can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this works to join “watashi tachi no gakkou” and “seito”. The formed phrase literally means ‘students in our school’ in Japanese.
- seito – 生徒 (せいと) : a noun meaning ‘student’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “watashi tachi no gakkou no seito” to make the subject in the sentence.
This is a typical usage of “sukunai”. In the example, it works as the complement in the sentence. Like other adjectives, however, it can also work as a modifier in front of a noun. For example, we can say “sukunai seito” to mean ‘a few students’ in Japanese.
So far, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “sukunai” and how to use it through the example sentence. In the rest part of this blog post, I will explain its major conjugations. The first one is “sukunakunai”.
Sukunakunai: the nai form of “sukunai”
Below are the definition and meanings of “sukunakunai”.
- sukunakunai – 少ない (すくなくない) : the nai form of “sukunai”, which means ‘not a few’, ‘not a little’, or ‘not scarce’ in Japanese.
Grammatically, “sukunakunai” consists of the following two parts:
- sukunaku – 少なく (すくなく) : one conjugation of “sukunai”. This can have a smooth connection with “nai”.
- nai – ない : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to deny its meaning. Word orders in Japanese and English are different, but the role of this auxiliary verb is similar to that of “not”.
From these two parts, we can understand that “sukunakunai” is literally the nai form of “sukunai” and means ‘not a few’, ‘not a little’, or ‘not scarce’ in Japanese. Then, let me explain how to use this form through the example sentence below.
Example #2: how to say “not a little” in Japanese
kanojo wa sukunakunai okane wo kasei da – 彼女は少なくないお金を稼いだ (かのじょはすくなくないおかねをかせいだ)
She has earned not a little money.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kanojo – 彼女 (かのじょ) : a pronoun meaning ‘she’ in Japanese.
- okane – お金 (おかね) : a noun meaning ‘money’ in Japanese.
- wo – を : a case particle used to make the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “okane” to make the object in the sentence.
- kasei – 稼い (かせい) : one conjugation of the verb, “kasegu”, which means ‘to earn’, ‘to make (money)’, or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- da – だ : an auxiliary verb used after a verb to make its past tense form. In the example, this is used after “kasei” to make its past tense form, “kasei da”, which means ‘to have earned’ in Japanese.
This is a typical usage of “sukunakunai”. When we want to mean ‘not a few’, ‘not a little’, or ‘not scarce’ in Japanese, this nai form is a good option.
Sukunakatta: the ta form of “sukunai”
Below are the definition and meanings of “sukunakatta”.
- sukunakatta – 少なかった (すくなかった) : the ta form of “sukunai”, which means ‘was a few’, ‘was a little’, ‘was scarce’, or such in Japanese.
Grammatically, “sukunakatta” consists of the following two parts:
- sukunakat – 少なかっ (すくなかっ) : one conjugation of “sukunai”. This can have a smooth connection with “ta”.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form.
From these two parts, we can understand that “sukunakatta” is literally the ta form of “sukunai” and means ‘was a few’, ‘was a little’, ‘was scarce’, or such in Japanese. Let me explain how to use this form through the example sentence below.
Example #3: how to say “were a few” in Japanese
mura no kodomo wa sukunakatta – 村の子供は少なかった (むらのこどもはすくなかった)
There were a few children in the village.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- mura – 村 (むら) : a noun meaning ‘village’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
- kodomo – 子供 (こども) : a noun meaning ‘child’ or ‘kid’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
This is a typical usage of “sukunakatta”. When we want to use the past tense form of “sukunai”, this ta form is the best option.
Sukunakute: the te form of “sukunai”
Below are the definition and meanings of “sukunakute”.
- sukunakute – 少なくて (すくなくて) : the te form of “sukunai”, which means ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese.
Grammatically, “sukunakute” consists of the following two parts:
- sukunaku – 少なく (すくなく) : one conjugation of “sukunai”. This can have a smooth connection with “te”.
- te – て : a conjunctive particle used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its te form.
From these two parts, we can understand that “sukunakute” is literally the te form of “sukunai”. In Japanese, te-formed words have some important roles. One of them is make a cause-and-effect structure in a sentence. So, “sukunakute” is very useful when we want to implement the structure into a sentence with adding the meaning of ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.
Example #4: how to say “a few and thus” in Japanese
nihongo gakkou no seito ga sukunakute moukara nai – 日本語学校の生徒が少なくて儲からない (にほんごがっこうのせいとがすくなくてもうからない)
There are a few students in the Japanese language school and thus it is not profitable.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- nihongo – 日本語 (にほんご) : a noun meaning ‘Japanese’ or ‘the Japanese language’ in Japanese.
- ga – が : a case particle used to make the subject word or the object word in a sentence. In the example, this is used after “nihongo gakkou no seito” to make the subject in the sentence.
- moukara – 儲から (もうから) : one conjugation of the verb, “moukaru”, which means ‘to make a profit’ or such in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- nai – ない : the same as used in “sukunakunai”. In the example, this is used after “moukara” to deny its meaning.
This is a typical usage of “sukunakute”. In the example, it makes the cause-and-effect structure in the sentence. “Nihongo gakkou no seito ga sukunakute” states the cause of being not profitable.
Sukunakereba: the ba form of “sukunai”
Lastly, let me explain the definition and meanings of “sukunakereba”.
- sukunakereba – 少なければ (すくなければ) : the ba form of “sukunai”, which makes a conditional clause in a sentence with meaning ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese.
Grammatically, “sukunakereba” consists of the following two parts:
- sukunakere – 少なけれ (すくなけれ) : one conjugation of “sukunai”. This can have a smooth connection with “ba”.
- ba – ば : a conjunctive particle used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its ba form.
From these two parts, we can understand that “sukunakereba” is literally the ba form of “sukunai”. In Japanese, the ba forms of words can work as their conditional forms. So, we can use “sukunakereba” to make a conditional clause in a sentence with adding the meaning of ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’. Let me explain this usage through the example sentence below.
Example #5: how to say “if a little” in Japanese
ofuro no mizu ga sukunakereba, tashi te kudasai – お風呂の水が少なければ、足してください (おふろのみずがすくなければ)
If there is only a little water in the bathtub, please add some.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- ofuro – お風呂 (おふろ) : a noun meaning ‘bath’ or ‘bathtub’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
- mizu – 水 (みず) : a noun meaning ‘water’ in Japanese.
- tashi – 足し (たし) : one conjugation of the verb, “tasu”, which means ‘to add’ in Japanese. In the example, it has been conjugated for the better connection with its following word.
- te – て : the same as used in “sukunakute”. In this example, this is used after “tashi” to make its te form, “tashi te”. Verbs need to be changed to their te forms to be connected with “kudasai”.
- kudasai – ください : one conjugation of the verb, “kudasaru”, which means ‘to give’ or such in Japanese. When this follows a verb, however, this can work like an auxiliary verb to add the meaning of ‘please’. In the example, this works like an auxiliary verb after “tashi te” to add the meaning of ‘please’.
This is a typical usage of “sukunakereba”. In this example, it makes the conditional clause, “ofuro no mizu ga sukunakereba”, which means ‘if there is only a little water in the bathtub’ in Japanese. When we want to make a conditional clause in a sentence with adding the meaning of ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese, this ba form is a good option.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “sukunai” together with its major conjugations. And also, I’ve explained how to use them through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- sukunai – 少ない (すくない) : an i-adjective meaning ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese. This can work as both a modifier and a complement.
- sukunakunai – 少ない (すくなくない) : the nai form of “sukunai”, which means ‘not a few’, ‘not a little’, or ‘not scarce’ in Japanese.
- sukunakatta – 少なかった (すくなかった) : the ta form of “sukunai”, which means ‘was a few’, ‘was a little’, ‘was scarce’, or such in Japanese.
- sukunakute – 少なくて (すくなくて) : the te form of “sukunai”, which means ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese. When we want to make a cause-and-effect structure in a sentence with adding the meaning of ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese, this te form is a good option.
- sukunakereba – 少なければ (すくなければ) : the ba form of “sukunai”, which makes a conditional clause in a sentence with meaning ‘a few’, ‘a little’, or ‘scarce’ in Japanese.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.