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I’ve come across some adjective conjugation that I don’t fully understand in
two separate but related example sentences, and so my translations are
definitely wonky.

飲んでいるでしょう。その証拠に、ぜんぜんお腹が小さくならないじゃない.

Translation: Probably drinking? As evidenced, never stomach (something not
little)….?

I know 小さくない means ‘not a little’ but this ならない is confusing me, I only know
it from なければならない meaning 'must' but that' doesn't seem to apply here. The
meaning overall is eluding me.

文法のルールが説明できるからと言って、それが上手に使えるとは限らない。その証拠に、実際に作文の宿題をチェックしたら、正しく書けていないことが少なくない。

Translation: Just because I’m able to explain the grammar rules doesn’t
necessarily mean I’m good at using them. As shown, in reality when I check my
homework essays I’m not able to correctly read _not a little_?

In this sentence, both the final verb and adjective are confusing me. 書けていない I
think means ‘not being able to read’ whilst 少なくない means ‘not a little/not few’
but put them together and I’m lost.
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2015-01-15T11:58:50.677
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2015-01-16T09:19:34.220
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question
grammar translation conjugations adjectives i-adjectives
Adjective conjugation of 小さい and 少ない in these sentences
Adverb+なる means "to become", as in 学生{がくせい}になる (to become a student),
綺麗{きれい}になる (to become clean/pretty), or 大{おお}きくなる (to become big), so in the
first sentence, 小{ちい}さくならない means "not to become small". In the second
sentence, 少{すく}なくない is just the negative of 少{すく}ない, so it means "not a few" (
_i.e._ , many).

The first sentence is difficult to make sense of without context, but
translated literally it could mean "(I/you/he/etc.) probably drinks (a
lot/regularly). Doesn't that mean (my/your/his/etc.) stomach will remain large
(not become small)?"

The second one is easier: 書{か}く means to write (not to read ;) ), so 書{か}けないこと
means "things I can't write". So the sentence means "There are many things I
can't write correctly."
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2015-01-15T13:31:25.723
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answer
First, let us review the adjectives involved to make sure there is no
confusion.

> **_Size vs. Quantity/Frequency:_**

**_Size:_**

「[小]{ちい}さい」 = "small".

「[大]{おお}きい」 = "large"

**_Quantity/Frequency:_**

「[少]{すく}ない」 = "few", "a little", "not frequent"

「[多]{おお}い」 = "many", "much", "frequent"

> **_Moving on to Grammar:_**

To express "to get or become (adjective)" in Japanese, you need to attach the
verb 「なる」 to an adjective. In doing so, however, you need to conjugate the
adjective into its [連用形]{れんようけい}(conjunctive form). Yes, just like verbs do,
adjectives also conjugate in Japanese.

The 連用形 of 「小さ **い** 」 is 「小さ **く** 」. Likewise, 「少な **い** 」 to 「少な **く** 」.

「小さくなる」 = "to get small(er)", "to shrink in size", etc.

「少なくなる」 = "to lessen in quantity", "to become less frequent", etc.

連用形 is extremely important. If I, who is neither a teacher nor linguist, must
use the word on a daily basis, that should tell you how important it is.

The plain negative form of an i-adjective is also formed with 連用形. 「小さ **い** 」
becomes「小さ **く** ない」 and 「少な **い** 」 becomes 「少な **く** ない」. All humans live in
the world of 連用形. In Japan, even animals live in the world of 連用形.

> **_Finally, your sentences:_**

「[飲]{の}んでいるでしょう。その[証拠]{しょうこ}に、ぜんぜんお[腹]{なか}が[小]{ちい}さくならないじゃない。」

"You must have been drinking (alcohol). As evidence, your belly hasn't shrunk
one bit!"

「その証拠に、[実際]{じっさい}に[作文]{さくぶん}の[宿題]{しゅくだい}をチェックしたら、[正]{ただ}しく[書]{か}けていないことが[少]{すく}なくない。」

I skipped the first sentence because your translation of that is good.

"As evidence, when I actually checked my composition homework, (I found that)
there are quite a few things that have not been written correctly."

「正しく書けていない」 literally means "has/have not been written correctly". For a
translation purpose, one could use "I have not written (or even 'did not
write') correctly."

「少なくない」, which expresses high quantity/frequency, is one of those phrases that
we native speakers use far more often than Japanese-learners do. It means
「多い」, which is what the learners tend to use.
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answer