Basic Grammar: all 87 lessons free
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有点儿 — A Bit Too, and Not Happy About It
程度副词「有点儿」— 有点儿贵
这件衣服有点儿小, 咖啡有点儿贵, 我有点儿害怕老鼠: 有点儿 before an adjective is the polite complaint — a little, and I mind.
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Memory hook
有点儿 + adj / mental verb = a bit (too) … — and I mind
The polite complaint
Every line is a small unhappiness. Listen for 有点儿 before the thing that is wrong.
Tap any line to hear it
A bit too有一点儿过了
No pressure — just making it stick.
星巴克的咖啡____贵。
Xīngbākè de kāfēi ____ Guì.
Starbucks coffee is a bit pricey.
You tried it on and it's tight. Which reply says so politely?
I'm a bit scared of mice.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
这些菜有点儿____，我不能吃。
Zhèxiē cài yǒudiǎnr ____, wǒ bù néng chī.
These dishes are a bit spicy — I can't eat them.
Your turn — say it
这件衣服有点儿小。
This top is a bit small.
我想买这件衣服，但是____贵。
Wǒ xiǎng mǎi zhè jiàn yīfu, dànshì ____ Guì.
I want to buy this top, but it's a bit pricey.
Finish each small complaint with the word that fits.
Tap a word to fill the next gap; tap a filled sentence to clear it. Every word is used once.
Word bank
0/5Small complaints, in pictures看图抱怨一下
No pressure — just making it stick.
Four things from the deck people are a bit unhappy about. Match each picture, then say 有点儿…… for it.
Tap a picture, then choose its word. Picked wrong? Tap that picture and choose again. Match all the cards to finish.
Your turn — say it
我有点儿害怕老鼠。
I'm a bit scared of mice.
Starbucks coffee is a bit pricey.
Tap the tiles in order — it checks itself when the sentence is complete. Tap a placed tile to take it back.
Your sentence
Your turn — say it
有点儿小，有大一点儿的吗？
A bit small — do you have a bigger one?
This lesson's characters
Three characters from the complaints: the price, the spice, and the mouse.
expensive; honoured
会two ideas joined
贝 at the bottom is the cowrie shell, ancient China's money — the part that appears in 买, 卖 and 贵 alike. The top was two hands lifting something precious. Costly, then honoured: 贵 also means esteemed, as in 贵姓, 'your honoured surname'. 有点儿贵 is the customer's word; 您贵姓 is the same character being polite.
spicy, hot
会two ideas joined
辛 on the left was a small knife used for marking slaves — pain, and by extension a sharp, pungent taste. 束 on the right is a bundle bound tight. Together: a taste that grips and stings. 辣 is Sichuan's whole personality, and 有点儿辣 in Chengdu is what a foreigner says with tears running down.
mouse, rat
象drawn from life
Look at the top: 臼 is the animal's head with its teeth showing. Below it, the legs and the long trailing tail on the right. 鼠 is a drawing of a rodent, and it has kept its whiskers for three thousand years. 老鼠 adds 老 as a friendly prefix, the way 老虎 does for the tiger — nobody thinks the mouse is old. The Rat opens the twelve-year cycle: 鼠年.
Take these with you
Everything worth taking away. Tap any line to hear it.
Words 生词
Characters 汉字
Before you go课后回顾
- Next time you shop, leave with 有点儿贵 instead of silence. You will feel the difference — you said something true and nobody was hurt.
- Keep the two 点儿 apart: 有点儿小 (before, a complaint) and 大一点儿 (after, a wish). Say the fitting-room sentence that holds both.
- Answer the deck's four questions about yourself — like, dislike, worry, fear — with 有点儿 in front of each. It is the most honest self-introduction you will ever give in Chinese.