ちっぽけ vs. 小さい: Did You Realize The Difference?

ちっぽけ vs. 小ちいさい: Did You Realize The Difference?

The meaning of these “ちっぽけ” and “小ちいさい” is quite similar, however, what is the difference between “ちっぽけ” and “小ちいさい? They are slightly different. Let me introduce what they are slightly different and how you correctly use them such as native speakers today!

ちっぽけ (chippoke)

So small (Pessimistic) / 很小 / 자그마함 / Nhỏ bé

“ちっぽけ” means “So small” and which has been basically used as the meaning of “Pessimistic or Ironic”, unlike “小ちいさい”. For instance “小ちいさい家いえ(a mall house) and ちっぽけな家いえ(a so small house ‘Ironically saying’), 小ちいさい夢ゆめ(a small dream) and ちっぽけな夢ゆめ(a so small dream ‘pessimistically saying’), 小ちいさい車くるま(a small car) and ちっぽけな車くるま(a so small car ‘Ironically saying’). When people use “ちっぽけ” about someone’s things such as ちっぽけな夢ゆめ, they ironically use it. And when people use “ちっぽけ” about themselves such as ちっぽけな夢ゆめ, they pessimistically use it. The tips of the way to use it are to explain for yourself(pessimistically use) or to someone’s things(ironically use).

Example

自分じぶんがいかにちっぽけな存在そんざいか気きづいたよ。 (I realized how insignificant I am for you, Yuka.) (我意识到自己是多么渺小的存在啊。) (내가 얼마나 하찮은 존재인지 깨달았어.) (Tớ nhận ra mình nhỏ bé đến mức nào.)

悩なやみ事ごとなんて本当ほんとうにちっぽけなだったよ。 (I felt that my worries were such so small things.) (烦恼的事真的很渺小。) (고민 따위 정말 별거 아니더라.) (Phiền muộn cũng chỉ là chuyện nhỏ thôi.)

どうしたの？ (What’s wrong?) (怎么了？) (무슨 일이야?) (Cậu sao thế?)

宇宙うちゅうに比くらべたら僕ぼくなんてちっぽけなだよ。 (I’m so small compared to the universe.) (与宇宙相比，我真的很渺小啊。) (우주에 비하면 나같은건 별거 아니야..) (So với vũ trụ chúng ta thật quá nhỏ bé.)

小ちいさい (chiisai)

Small/Little / 小 / 작다 / Nhỏ

“小ちいさい” means “Small or Little” and which has been used as the meaning of “a size that is less than normal or usual” that is an adjective so the basic way to use it is “___(subject)は/が小ちいさい” or “小ちいさい___(noun)”. For instance, “字じが小ちいさい(The letters are small.)” and “小ちいさい字じ(the small letters)”, その車くるまは小ちいさい(The car is small.) and “小ちいさい車くるまを運転うんてんする(I drive a small car.)”, etc. “小ちいさい” doesn’t have an ironic or pessimistic meaning, however, when people ironically or pessimistically use it, that would be an ironic or pessimistic meaning. It depends on how people say something with “小ちいさい” though. This means you can use “小ちいさい” ironically or pessimistically.