Word
少しも
Meaning in Englishnot at all, not even a little
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Word context
What it means
少しも functions as a negation intensifier preceding a negative predicate, signaling complete absence of any amount.
Main meanings
- 1) Complete negation: emphasizes that no amount of something exists or is true.
- 2) Intensifies negativity: commonly pairs with ない, ありません, etc., to strengthen a statement.
- 3) Style note: more common in formal or written Japanese; casual speech often uses ちっとも or other forms.
How to use it
Predominantly precedes a negative predicate such as ない or ありません to express strong negation; suitable for formal, written, and careful speech; in casual spoken Japanese, ちっとも is more common; the construction is relatively fixed and does not appear with positive statements.
Variants and close terms
- ちっとも (chitto mo) — casual counterpart meaning not at all
- 全く (mattaku) — stronger or more general not at all when used with negatives
Composition
- 少: little, few
- し: part of the adverbial stem
- も: particle meaning 'even' or 'also' used for emphasis
Etymology
Phonetic evolution: 少し is formed from 少 (small) plus the adverbial suffix し, while も is a particle that adds emphasis or inclusivity; their combination yields 少しも, an expression used to intensify negation.
Word class
adverb (副詞)
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