How to Say “Less sugar please” in Chinese
Food and dining · HSK 3
"Less sugar please" in Chinese is 少糖 (Shǎo táng). 少糖 is the exact phrase you'll use ordering bubble tea (奶茶) or fresh juice in Mainland China and Taiwan. Most chains; 喜茶, 奈雪, 一点点, 50岚; offer a standard sweetness scale: 正常糖 (normal), 少糖 (less, ~70%), 半糖 (half), 微糖 (slight, ~30%), 无糖 (none).
Primary translation
少糖
Shǎo táng
Variants by register
Formal
请少放糖
Qǐng shǎo fàng táng
When to use it
少糖 is the exact phrase you'll use ordering bubble tea (奶茶) or fresh juice in Mainland China and Taiwan. Most chains; 喜茶, 奈雪, 一点点, 50岚; offer a standard sweetness scale: 正常糖 (normal), 少糖 (less, ~70%), 半糖 (half), 微糖 (slight, ~30%), 无糖 (none). Just say the level when ordering; no full sentence needed. For cooked dishes at a restaurant, use 请少放糖 ('please add less sugar'). Same pattern works for salt (少盐) and oil (少油); super useful if you're health-conscious.
Example sentences
一杯珍珠奶茶，少糖少冰。
Yì bēi zhēn zhū nǎi chá, shǎo táng shǎo bīng.
One bubble tea, less sugar, less ice.
师傅，这个菜请少放糖，谢谢。
Shī fu, zhè ge cài qǐng shǎo fàng táng, xiè xie.
Chef, please use less sugar in this dish, thanks.
我在减肥，能不能做成无糖的？
Wǒ zài jiǎn féi, néng bu néng zuò chéng wú táng de?
I'm on a diet; could you make it sugar-free?