# 一点儿+noun



## kepulauan

Hello guys

I'm thinking about the expression "a little [something]" or "a bit of [something], like "看一点儿电视". Is there any difference between using "一点儿", "一点" and just "点"? I guess 儿 is a regional preference (or isn't it?) but other than that I'm not sure.

Thanks!


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## xiaolijie

> Is there any difference between using "一点儿", "一点" and just "点"?


Since they look different, they will be different in some contexts (depending on what kind of differences you're talking about), but in your example, you can say they're intended to be the same, even if some is more commonly heard than another:
"看一点儿电视"
"看一点电视"
"看点电视".


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## graceren

pollodia said:


> Hello guys
> 
> I'm thinking about the expression "a little [something]" or "a bit of [something], like "看一点儿电视". Is there any difference between using "一点儿", "一点" and just "点"? I guess 儿 is a regional preference (or isn't it?) but other than that I'm not sure.
> 
> Thanks!


 It's right that 儿 is a regional preference especially in the north such as in Beijing. So "看一点儿电视 is the same with "看一点电视".


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## graceren

If you say "看点电视".  I prefer to "看点儿电视". We usually do not say "看点电视".


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## graceren

In addition, it is more common by using “看一会儿电视”。


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## darksilence

Actually they are the same.But it's true that people in the northern part of China tend to say "儿"......But for me,i tend to say"看点电视”or “看会电视” as a Shanghainese.


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## kepulauan

I better stick to including 一 then, for now at least. That's the form I learned first anyway. I had forgotten about 会 in this sense. Good to be reminded of that.

On a sidenote... why is the _n_ skipped in _yīdiǎr_?


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## Forero

pollodia said:


> I better stick to including 一 then, for now at least. That's the form I learned first anyway. I had forgotten about 会 in this sense. Good to be reminded of that.
> 
> On a sidenote... why is the _n_ skipped in _yīdiǎr_?


It's just a phonological rule. This 儿 does not form a separate syllable but "colors" the previous one.


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## kepulauan

Forero said:


> It's just a phonological rule. This 儿 does not form a separate syllable but "colors" the previous one.



Thanks for that. I have yet to see the retroflex final explained in detail. I'm sure I'll bump into it some day.


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## xiaolijie

pollodia said:


> Thanks for that. I have yet to see the retroflex final explained in detail. I'm sure I'll bump into it some day.


Here are some rules for you:
-Final /n/ and /ng/ are dropped when the 儿 is attached.
-Vowel /i/ is also dropped when 儿 is attached to it, so "xiǎohái" +  儿 = "xiǎohár"


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## viajero_canjeado

I think I'd be more likely to say 我要看電視一下。 I don't think people would be inclined to say 一點兒 here, except to be funny I suppose.


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## Ghabi

viajero_canjeado said:


> I think I'd be more likely to say 我要看電視一下。


I don't want to drift the thread off its topic, but I'm curious: isn't it 看一下電視? Another colloquialism that I don't know?


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## xiaolijie

Ghabi said:


> I don't want to drift the thread off its topic, but I'm curious: isn't it 看一下電視? Another colloquialism that I don't know?


Even the best brains need a holiday (and that is why those who work during weekends are called "workaholics" ).


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## kepulauan

I was actually thinking about something like "看一点中国电影", and using 一下 here looks to me like someone is going to see a film just to leave after a few minutes. Or is that just me?


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## BODYholic

pollodia said:


> I was actually thinking about something like "看一点中国电影", and using 一下 here looks to me like someone is going to see a film just to leave after a few minutes. Or is that just me?



Yes, you are right but there's nothing wrong with it, isn't it? It really depends what you want to say. And how you want to quantify the noun that follows. By magnitude of by duration.

戏不好看，我看了一下(电影)就离场。It sounds really odds, to me, to use 一点 in this scenario.


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## kepulauan

Well thanks for all your answers, relevant as well as off-topic.


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## viajero_canjeado

pollodia said:


> I was actually thinking about something like "看一点中国电影", and using 一下 here looks to me like someone is going to see a film just to leave after a few minutes. Or is that just me?



一下 is amazingly versatile. Lots of times it has nothing to do with time. For example the other day I saw a little hand-written note on a self-serve espresso machine that said "請按我一下", referring to a button which would brew coffee when pressed. The 一下 in this instance makes the sentence either more polite, more colloquial, or less stiff; it doesn't mean one should press the button quickly. Or if you tell someone you're going to 解釋一下 it doesn't necessarily imply your explanation will be short - at least, that's not the way I sense it being used sometimes. Hmm.. I wonder if 點 in this context is also kind of metaphorical, since when you say 看一點兒電視, it's not a "little bit" of measurable material, but rather a short span of time?



Ghabi said:


> I don't want to drift the thread off its topic, but I'm curious: isn't it 看一下電視? Another colloquialism that I don't know?



I canvassed for an opinion or two and came to the conclusion that putting 一下 at the end is more "marked" (in the linguistic sense) but is readily understood. Sometimes more marked usages get stuck in my mind, maybe because I'd say it in English that way...? Except in this case you could say "I'm going to watch a little TV" or "I'm going to watch TV for a while" (seems like I'd usually say the second one, just so the listener wouldn't potentially be confused about whether or not I was calling the television small), either one's fine. But yet, neither of these works: I'm going to watch a while TV or I'm going to watch TV a little bit.


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## BODYholic

viajero_canjeado said:


> 一下 is amazingly versatile. Lots of times it has nothing to do with time.


Literally, 一下 means once (as in one time). As an example, when we say 看了一下电影, it is our abbreviated way of saying 看了一下(子的)电影. 一下子 is "a while / a brief moment".



viajero_canjeado said:


> I wonder if 點 in this context is also kind of metaphorical, since when you say 看一點兒電視, it's not a "little bit" of measurable material, but rather a short span of time?


一點(兒) can be used to quantify both measurable and immeasurable things. Hence, context is very important to make the sentence sounds.

Time: 才看了一下電視, 就想睡觉。
Magnitude: 只看了一點(兒)电影,就想写剧本当导演。（春秋大梦也）


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## GamblingCamel

BODYholic said:


> Time: 才看了一下電視, 就想睡觉。
> Magnitude: 只看了一點(兒)电影,就想写剧本当导演。（春秋大梦也）



Thanks for the 春秋大梦 idiom. It's expressions like that which keep me hooked to learning Chinese.

只看了一點(兒)电影
Are you saying that you just watched one whole film?
EDIT: Or are you saying that after watching just a portion of the film, you wanted to write + direct your own?

Congratulations on 1,000 posts, BODY !!


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## BODYholic

GamblingCamel said:


> 只看了一點(兒)电影
> Are you saying that you just watched one whole film?
> EDIT: Or are you saying that after watching just a portion of the film, you wanted to write + direct your own?


一點(兒) is indefinite, although we know it is a 'relatively' small amount.  Assuming all well-known directors watched at least 1000 movies (in  addition to their hard-work) before they became world renown,  一點(兒)  could mean 2, 3, 5 or 10 movies.

On the another hand, I watched Avatar last year, 只看了那么一点，就觉得已经值回票价了。Here  一点 means a small portion of the movie.



GamblingCamel said:


> Congratulations on 1,000 posts, BODY !!


 I'm not a post count whore but, really, thanks!


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## GamblingCamel

BODY > I now understand all your sentences with 一点.



BODYholic said:


> I'm not a post count whore but, really, thanks!


You're welcome. I finally reached 1,000 after 3 years on the forum, thanks to the Chinese and Portuguese forums.


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## kepulauan

> 一下 is amazingly versatile. Lots of times it has nothing to do with time.  For example the other day I saw a little hand-written note on a  self-serve espresso machine that said "請按我一下", referring to a button  which would brew coffee when pressed. The 一下 in this instance makes the  sentence either more polite, more colloquial, or less stiff


We have some softeners like this in my language so it's not a problem. Not surpisingly these are mostly time/size words too. I'm picturing the coffe button with a cute drawing next to it.



> 一點(兒) can be used to quantify both measurable and immeasurable things.  Hence, context is very important to make the sentence sounds.
> Time: 才看了一下電視, 就想睡觉。


Is this the same as 才看了電視一下?


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## xiaolijie

> Is this the same as 才看了電視一下?


You may like to have a look at #12


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## kepulauan

xiaolijie said:


> You may like to have a look at #12


I'm sorry, I'm not sure what answer I'm supposed to read from another question. That 才看了一下電視 is a colloquial form?
Anyway that wasn't really an important question.


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## BODYholic

pollodia said:


> Is this the same as 才看了電視一下?



The writer had the same intention when he/she wrote the above. I won't labeled it as wrong but it's so colloquial to the extend it sounds broken to me (just me).

The proper construction is "verb + 一下 + noun". 
Examples,
读一下书
听一下歌
弹一下琴
The above are all generic examples which are readily understood without context. You may, of course, replace 一下 by 一点. But because some nouns do not usually pair with 一点 (eg 一点琴 does not make much sense), a context is important to justify this usage. 乘现在有空，我来弹一点琴娱乐娱乐大家。

Note: When spoken, the '一' is often omitted.


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## kepulauan

Ah I see. That clarifies a lot! I was missing out on some grammar.



> Note: When spoken, the '一' is often omitted.


Going back to the original question, I assume this might have something to do with why it's also omitted in text sometimes.


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