How common it is
缩小 appears often in everyday Chinese, so it is worth practicing early and reviewing often.
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Pronunciation focus
Say suō xiǎo slowly first, then repeat it in a short phrase. Listen for the tone shape.
Usage note
“缩小”是一个动词，意思是使某物变小或减少。
“Suō xiǎo” shì yīgè dòngcí, yìsi shì shǐ mǒuwù biàn xiǎo huò jiǎnshǎo.
"Suō xiǎo" is a verb meaning to make something smaller or reduce it.
Context note
在画画时，我们可以缩小图片来适应纸张。
Zài huàhuà shí, wǒmen kěyǐ suō xiǎo túpiàn lái shìyìng zhǐzhāng.
When drawing, we can shrink the picture to fit the paper.
5 examples
请缩小这个图片，让它更小。
qǐng suō xiǎo zhè ge tú piàn， ràng tā gèng xiǎo。
Please shrink this picture to make it smaller.
我们可以缩小队伍的人数。
wǒ men kě yǐ suō xiǎo duì wu de rén shù。
We can reduce the size of the team.
这个盒子太大了，需要缩小。
zhè ge hé zi tài dà le， xū yào suō xiǎo。
This box is too big and needs to be shrunk.
老师缩小了作业量。
lǎo shī suō xiǎo le zuò yè liáng。
The teacher reduced the amount of homework.
他缩小了地图的比例。
tā suō xiǎo le dì tú de bǐ lì。
He reduced the scale of the map.
5 mini stories
小丽画了一朵大花。她缩小了它，让它更可爱。
xiǎo lì huà le yì duǒ dà huā。 tā suō xiǎo le tā， ràng tā gèng kě ài。
Xiao Li drew a big flower. She shrunk it to make it cuter.
我们缩小了蛋糕的大小。这样每个人都能分到。
wǒ men suō xiǎo le dàn gāo de dà xiǎo。 zhè yàng měi gè rén dōu néng fēn dào。
We reduced the size of the cake. So everyone can get a piece.
爸爸缩小了电视的音量。因为太吵了。
bà ba suō xiǎo le diàn shì de yīn liàng。 yīn wèi tài chǎo le。
Dad reduced the TV volume. Because it was too noisy.
老师缩小了班级的座位距离。大家坐得更近。
lǎo shī suō xiǎo le bān jí de zuò wèi jù lí。 dà jiā zuò dé gèng jìn。
The teacher reduced the distance between seats in the class. Everyone sat closer.
小明缩小了玩具车。它变得很小巧。
xiǎo míng suō xiǎo le wán jù chē。 tā biàn de hěn xiǎo qiǎo。
Xiao Ming shrunk the toy car. It became very small and cute.