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小

xiǎo

How "small" in Chinese also means "no big deal"

The picture An outline pulled inward until it takes up only a little room. 小 pulls the outline inward; 大 pushes it outward.

Describing words

Where the picture shows up in 小

  1. room walls pull in

    这个房间太小了,放不下床。

    zhè ge fáng jiān tài xiǎo le, fàng bu xià chuáng.

    This room is too small — the bed won't fit.

    Four walls standing so close there's no room to turn a bed around

  2. a voice pulls in

    电话里声音太小,我听不见。

    diàn huà lǐ shēng yīn tài xiǎo, wǒ tīng bu jiàn.

    You're too faint on the phone, I can't hear you.

    Sound rings from the receiver fading out before they reach the ear

  3. years stack lower

    我弟弟比我小两岁。

    wǒ dì di bǐ wǒ xiǎo liǎng suì.

    My younger brother is two years younger than me.

    Two people side by side, one marked with a shorter line of years

  4. a problem pulls in

    别担心,这是小问题。

    bié dān xīn, zhè shì xiǎo wèn tí.

    Don't worry, it's a minor thing.

    A dot the size of a fingernail held up between two fingers

  5. pulling your voice in

    麻烦您小声一点,孩子在睡觉。

    má fan nín xiǎo shēng yī diǎn, hái zi zài shuì jiào.

    Could you keep it down? The baby is sleeping.

    A hand cupped at the mouth, narrowing the sound on its way out

All of it in one picture

小 is one outline pulled inward. Pull the walls of a room in and the bed won't fit; pull a voice in and it dies before it reaches your ear; pull the line of years in and someone sits below you in age; pull a problem in and it shrinks to nothing worth worrying about; pull your own voice in and you are asking someone to keep it down.

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