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What's the difference between あまり、ちょっと、少し

-悪魔- said:
They all are basically use these words the same way, especially 少し and ちょっと
You're right to separate out あまり - that's used quite differently.

優勝したわりにあまり嬉しくないようです。

He doesn't seem very happy considering that he won.

... I don't know how you'd say that with 少し or ちょっと.

[Edit] Now as for the distinguishing characteristics of ちょっと / 少し.

1. Use as an interjection
ちょっと! = "Hold up!" "Hey!" "What's that!?"
2. Use in negative sentences
すこしもうれしくない。 = Not happy at all.
You can't use ちょっと there - the equivalent would be
ちっともうれしくない。

There's probably more but I can't bring them to mind.
 
I think of chotto as being more conversational and not used as much for a small number/ quantity of something. 米が少ししかの残っていないです (We only have a little rice left) rather than ちょっとしか....but I'm not sure this is a real distinction or not.
 
Elizabeth said:
I think of chotto as being more conversational and not used as much for a small number/ quantity of something. 米が少ししかの残っていないです (We only have a little rice left) rather than ちょっとしか....but I'm not sure this is a real distinction or not.

Have to wait for a NSoJ on this I think ... However I did Google up this example, don't know how natural it sounds.

お小遣いがちょっとしかない子どもさん[...]
 
They're probably both natural, I just remember reading somewhere that "sukoshi" was slightly better in these situations. And have proceeded to ignore any counter examples since. :p
 
All three are used in different situations

あまりmeans seldom and is used like saying i seldom play sports. Eg,

あまりスポーツをしません。

ちょっとmeans a little and is used like saying this fish is a little expensive,

この魚はちょっと高いです。

少しmeans a few (sometimes a little) and is used like saying please buy a few apples,

少しりんごを買ってください。
 
lzydesmond said:
少しmeans a few (sometimes a little) and is used like saying please buy a few apples,

少しりんごを買ってください。
I'm willing to bet small amounts of money that your example sentence does not sound natural.

I suggest trying WWWJDIC examples for 少し for a better feel of its usage.
 
I don't think you can use it for "a few" either. I would normally just say three or four (or however many) apples. Although "I have a few friends" (Watashi ni wa tomodachi no sukoshi ga imasu or Watashi ni wa tomodachi ga sukoshi ha imasu) or "mou sukoshi ringo" would be natural....:?
 
Last edited:
maybe... But i am sure the other of my sentences are right as I created them. For 少し、I actually checked the dic and copied the sentence in, so ...

as i am not sure how to form a sentence using sukoshi
 
Used like these EDICT sentences it becomes more natural, maybe....:?

私は卵とミルクを少し買いました。 [T]
I bought a few eggs and a little milk.
私は卵を少しとミルクを少し買いました。
 
Konnichiwa Mina-san!

Elizabeth said:
Used like these EDICT sentences it becomes more natural, maybe....:?

私は卵とミルクを少し買いました。 [T]
I bought a few eggs and a little milk.
私は卵を少しとミルクを少し買いました。

Yes, "りんごを少し買ってください" is natural, and "少しりんごを買ってください" is not.

Of course "私は卵とミルクを少し買いました" is good too!

NANGI
 
lzydesmond said:
zzz confused me now ...

It's just like I hinted. Your dictionary = bad dictionary. :eek:
すこしりんごを買ってください。= not-natural

すこしりんごを買ってください。 sounds to me like "Could you slightly buy apples?" which is silly because you either totally buy apples or you don't buy apples at all :p

Actually I got somewhat confused myself after looking into it. 😌
I think "read, practise and hope for the best" is the most advice I can give right now.
 
lzydesmond said:
zzz confused me now ...
Anyhow, just as many apples is 'takusan no ringo,' to make 'few' refer directly to the number of apples probably also takes a pattern like such :

[few] no ringo --> (数個のりんご?), 3個、4個のりんご、三つ、四つのりんご (?)
 
Elizabeth said:
(数個のりんご?)
That's exactly what I thought when I first came across the 'すこし' example sentence - but Google wasn't too keen on the idea.

数個のりんご 13
りんごを数個 4
りんごをちょっと 28

Of course you have to look closely at the actual results to see whether they are relevant 😌
None of them are very numerous though are they? :eek:

りんごをちょっと買ってください was one suggestion that I liked the look of, but it was not from a native speaker
.
 
According to my dictionary there is a 'sukoshi no' as well, but I would simply stick with "_つのりんご or "_個のりんご to directly modify the number of apples
you're after. 😅 And I've yet to come across 'chotto' in the context of a few, only a little....
 
Elizabeth said:
According to my dictionary there is a 'sukoshi no' as well,
That's usually for things like すこしのあいだ though isn't it?

Elizabeth said:
but I would simply stick with "_つのりんご or "_個のりんご to directly modify the number of apples you're after.
Not the same as 'few' though.

Elizabeth said:
And I've yet to come across 'chotto' in the context of a few, only a little....:?
Here are some relevant Google results from just the first 10 matching をちょっと買う (of 111)

1. ホテル向かうまでの間にコンビニで水とお菓子をちょっと買う。
2. 全く何も買わないのもなんだから、芳香剤みたいな物をちょっと買う。
3. 神保町で古本をちょっと買う。
4. 枠 1-7 2-7 1-2をちょっと買う。(ここの枠にしかいなかった)
5. ついでに近場で春物の服をちょっと買う。
6. お土産をちょっと買う。
7. コミックスはもともとアニメの原作をちょっと買う程度でほとんど買っていなかったん
ですが、就職後に友人からいろいろ薦められて、今では月平均5、6冊程度は買うように
なりました。
8. で、マイネルエイワンから他の3頭に流した馬券をちょっと買う。
9. 古雑誌とか駄玩具などをちょっと買うともう幸せになれる。

I won't say it exactly matches 'few' but it seems pretty close to me.
 
Seemingly somewhere in between 'a few' and 'some,' maybe not quite up to a
'middling amount' in English. :p

And I think ツ渉ュ窶堋オ窶堙 is closer to 'a little' or 'slight' like ツ渉ュ窶堋オ窶堙娯?ーJツ (a light rain?)
 
By the way, when you place a quantifier before a noun like yottsu no ringo o kudasai, what you are saying is "give me the four apples," and this can't be used when you are saying "give me four (indefinite) apples." You would instead have to say ringo o yottsu kudasai. This is known as the quantifier float.
 
Glenn said:
By the way, when you place a quantifier before a noun like yottsu no ringo o kudasai, what you are saying is "give me the four apples," and this can't be used when you are saying "give me four (indefinite) apples." You would instead have to say ringo o yottsu kudasai. This is known as the quantifier float.
Thanks for link, Glenn. I had always wondered about that difference.
 
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