HSK 1 · Measure Words

一点儿 yìdiǎnr “a little” in Chinese

Traditional 一點兒

What 一点儿 means

  1. a little
  2. a bit

How to say 一点儿

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale一yì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale点diǎn3rd tone, dipping
  • Pitch chart of the neutral tone: short and light, with no contour of its own儿rneutral tone, light and short

Grey pinyin is a neutral tone: say it short and light. More on the neutral tone

Tone change. 一 is yī on its own. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí, and before the other tones yì. Textbooks write the change in, as here. How tone changes work

一点儿 in a sentence

  1. 我们喝一点儿水吧。

    Wǒmen hē yìdiǎnr shuǐ ba.

    Let’s have a little water.

    Sentence #7817197 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  2. 我会说一点儿。

    Wǒ huì shuō yìdiǎnr.

    I can speak a little.

    Sentence #2430521 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 一点儿也不/没: not at all

    我一点儿钱也没有。

    Wǒ yìdiǎnr qián yě méiyǒu.

    I don’t have any money at all.

    Sentence #351232 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 一点儿 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 一 (yī) drawn as one shape
一yīoneyì in 一点儿

一 is a single shape of 1 stroke. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidOne stroke for one, the way people once counted with rods.

The character 点 (diǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
点diǎnto touch briefly; to tap
  • 占to divine · zhānSound part
  • 灬fire form of 火 · huǒMeaning part

灬 hints at the meaning (fire); 占 (zhān) hints at the sound. Compare it with diǎn.

Memory aidSimplified from 點, a black 黑 dot. 占 (zhān) gives the sound.

The character 儿 (ér) with each of its parts in a different colour
儿rnon-syllabic diminutive suffix
  • 丿slash · piě
  • 乚second (cyclical) form of 乙 · yǐ

Memory aidSimplified from 兒, a child drawn with a big head. Only the legs 儿 are left today.

How to write 一点儿

一 1 strokes · 点 9 strokes · 儿 2 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

一点儿 (yìdiǎnr) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 一点儿 (yìdiǎnr). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 一点儿

Words with 一

一yī · one一半yībàn · half一些yīxiē · some一起yìqǐ · together第一dìyī · first一下yíxià · (after a verb) briefly一般yìbān · general一定yídìng · surely一共yígòng · altogether一样yíyàng · the same

Words with 点

点diǎn · o’clock有点儿yǒudiǎnr · slightly晚点wǎndiǎn · (of trains地点dìdiǎn · place特点tèdiǎn · characteristic (feature)优点yōudiǎn · strong point缺点quēdiǎn · weak point重点zhòngdiǎn · key point点心diǎnxin · light refreshments观点guāndiǎn · point of view

Words with 儿

儿子érzi · son女儿nǚ'ér · daughter哪儿nǎr · where这儿zhèr · here那儿nàr · there面条儿miàntiáor · noodles好玩儿hǎowánr · amusing有点儿yǒudiǎnr · slightly男孩儿nánháir · boy女孩儿nǚháir · girl

More words: Measure Words & Counters

本běn · measure word for books个gè · general measure word些xiē · some块kuài · yuan (currency)岁suì · year(s) of age

FAQs

一点儿 (yìdiǎnr) means “a little” or “a bit”. It is an HSK 1 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it yìdiǎnr: yì with a 4th tone, then diǎn with a 3rd tone, then r with a neutral tone. 一 is yī on its own. Before a fourth tone it becomes yí, and before the other tones yì. Textbooks write the change in, as here. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 一点儿 is written 一點兒. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yidianr with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 一点儿 from the suggestions. Typing yidianr into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
一点儿 is an HSK 1 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.