tsuya ga sukunai.

The sheen is low.

Breakdown of tsuya ga sukunai.

• が: subject particle
• 少すくない: little
• つや: sheen; gloss

Questions & Answers about tsuya ga sukunai.

What is つや in this sentence?

つや means gloss, luster, or shine on a surface. It is often used for things like hair, skin, paint, fabric, paper, or food—anything that can look smooth and shiny.

It is often written in kana as つや, although the kanji 艶 also exists.

Why is が used after つや?

Here, が marks つや as the thing being described by 少ない.

So the structure is basically:

• つや = gloss / shine
• が = subject marker
• 少ない = is little / is scarce

A natural way to understand it is: The gloss is قليلة / there is little gloss → It has little shine.

With words like ある, ない, 多い, and 少ない, が is very commonly used to mark what exists in greater or smaller quantity.

Why is it 少ない and not 少し?