Chinese word

不少

Pronunciation

Pinyinbù shǎo

Meaning

  • adverbquite a bit

Example

他的中文进步了不少。tā de zhōng wén jìn bù le bù shǎo

His Chinese has improved quite a bit.

Illustration for 不少 (quite a bit)

More examples

这本书帮了我不少。zhè běn shū bāng le wǒ bù shǎo

This book helped me quite a bit.

Core concept

A quantity or degree that has risen well above a small amount.

Common phrases

  • 进步不少jìn bù bù shǎo

    make considerable progress

  • 提高不少tí gāo bù shǎo

    improve considerably

  • 帮了我不少bāng le wǒ bù shǎo

    help me a lot

Similar words

比较bǐ jiào: Indicates a somewhat high degree or amount in a mild, measured way.
相当xiāng dāng: Indicates a considerably high degree or amount.
蛮mán: In conversational speech, indicates a fairly high degree or amount.
挺tǐng: In conversational speech, gently indicates a quite high degree or amount.

Definition in Chinese

用于修饰动词或形容词，表示达到较高的数量或程度，语气介于有点和非常之间。yòng yú xiū shì dòng cí huò xíng róng cí biǎo shì dá dào jiào gāo de shù liàng huò chéng dù yǔ qì jiè yú yóu diǎn hé fēi cháng zhī jiān

Word origin

不少 (bùshǎo, "not few") is built from 不 (bù, "not") + 少 (shǎo, "few"), and this compact negative expression has settled into a positive sense of a substantial amount or degree.

Usage tips

  • Learners may meet this word before a noun as well as after a verb or adjective, so its position helps show whether it describes a number of things or the extent of an action or quality.

Other meanings

  • manyadjective

Opposites

  • 很少hén shǎovery littleadverb

Word lists with this word