い-adjective
少ないすくない
sukunai少ない (すくない, sukunai) — few — is an い-adjective: 少なかった (past), 少なくない (negative), 少なくて (te-form), 少ないです (polite).
It also means little; small.
How 少ない conjugates · い-adjective
Drop the final い, then add the ending.
Every form is built on the stem 少な. The one that isn't: the polite present, which is the whole word plus です.
少ない
dropsstem + ending
少なかった少なかったpast · There were few of them.
少なくない少なくないnegative · There aren't few of them.
少なくて少なくてte-form · There are few of them and …
少なければ少なければif · If there are few of them, ...
少ないです少ないですpolite presentkeeps the い
Every い-adjective works this way. The one exception is いい, which conjugates from its older form よい.
N4 N tags give the JLPT level at which the game starts quizzing a form.
PLAIN
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| present | 少ない すくない sukunai | |
| past There were few of them. | 少なかった すくなかった sukunakatta | |
| negative There aren't few of them. | 少なくない すくなくない sukunakunai | |
| te-form There are few of them and … | 少なくて すくなくて sukunakute | |
| past negative N4 There weren't so few of them. | 少なくなかった すくなくなかった sukunakunakatta | |
| cond. ば N3 If there are few of them, ... | 少なければ すくなければ sukunakereba | |
| cond. たら N3 When there are few of them, ... | 少なかったら すくなかったら sukunakattara |
POLITE
| Form | Conjugation | Audio |
|---|---|---|
| present | 少ないです すくないです sukunaidesu | |
| past There were few of them. | 少なかったです すくなかったです sukunakattadesu | |
| negative There aren't few of them. | 少なくないです すくなくないです sukunakunaidesu | |
| past negative N4 There weren't so few of them. | 少なくなかったです すくなくなかったです sukunakunakattadesu |