<p>&quot;可以便宜吗？&quot; = &quot;Can it be cheap?&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;可以便宜一点儿吗？&quot; = &quot;Can it be cheaper?&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;可以(更)便宜一点儿吗？&quot; = &quot;Can it be cheaper (more)?&quot; -- <em>compare to <strong>cheaper</strong> price</em></p>
<p>可以(再)便宜一点儿吗？ = Can it be cheaper (again) -- <em>repeat 'the action <strong>be</strong> cheaper</em></p>
<p>It may be easier to understand with different phrasing:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;可以便宜一点儿吗？&quot; = &quot;Can you lower the price?&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;可以(更)便宜一点儿吗？&quot; = &quot;Can you lower the price (more)?&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;可以(再)便宜一点儿吗？&quot; = &quot;Can you lower the price (again)?&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can repeat the same phrase as many time as you want until you get the lowest price you can get.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T18:01:58.467Z
2020-06-04T18:27:02.387Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Tang Ho
<p>The structure of the first sentence is 可以便宜.</p>

<p>可以 is "can", 便宜 is something like V-ing form, a noun.</p>

<p>再 means '<strong>again</strong>', so it is not 'more', not a 'comparison'.</p>

<p>可以便宜一点儿吗？
再便宜一点儿，好吗？</p>

<p>Those literally means:</p>

<p>Can it be cheap?</p>

<p>Can it be cheap <strong>again</strong>?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T18:53:15.257Z
But [in this dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/chinese-english/%E5%86%8D) they say it can also mean *more*...
Puco4
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T17:23:10.673Z
2020-06-04T17:23:10.673Z
sfy
<p>I just started learning chinese and I came across this dialogue from a lesson:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A: Pínɡuǒzěnme mài ? 苹果怎么卖? <em>How much are the apples?</em></p>
<p>B: Sìkuài. 四块. <em>4 Yuan</em>.</p>
<p>A: Yǒudiǎnr ɡuì. <strong>Kěyǐpiányi yìdiǎnr mɑ?</strong> 有点儿贵。<strong>可以便宜一点儿吗？</strong> <em>A bit expensive. Can you make it cheaper?</em></p>
<p>B: Sān kuài wǔ. 三块五. <em>3,5 Yuan</em>.</p>
<p>A: <strong>Zài piányi yìdiǎnr, hǎo mɑ? 再便宜一点儿，好吗？</strong> <em>Can you make it cheaper?</em></p>
<p>B: Hǎo, sān kuài. 好，三块。<em>Ok, 3 Yuan.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I'm wondering about the differences between:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Kěyǐpiányi yìdiǎnr mɑ? 可以便宜一点儿吗？</p>
</li>
<li><p>Zài piányi yìdiǎnr, hǎo mɑ? 再便宜一点儿，好吗？</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>In the lesson they said 再 zài can mean <em>more</em> in chinese, so I understand literally 2. as <em>More cheap a little bit, ok?</em>. So it is clear the speaker wants the product to be cheaper than it is now. However I do not completely understand 1., as literally would mean <em>Can it be cheap a little bit?</em>, missing the comparison specifier.</p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong> What's the underlying grammar structure in 1.? Does actually have the word 再 zài implicit, like</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Kěyǐ(zài)piányi yìdiǎnr mɑ? 可以(再)便宜一点儿吗？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>so it really becomes a &quot;comparison&quot; question such as 2.? Or does this mean comparisons in chinese are a little bit more flexible than other languages (like English), where you always need to specify them in some way?</p>
<p>I asked a chinese friend about this and he said usually 1. can be asked just single time and then if you want to ask for still a cheaper product you use 2. any number of times. Does this mean they are not completely equivalent as I expected?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T12:46:18.190Z
便宜一点儿 can be comparison, as in '比起那个，这个便宜一点儿' (this is cheaper compared with that). And it also means as an idiom 'to lower the price'. 再 is like asking for a lower price than the current price, so you can use it any number of times and even from the very beginning.
ekd123
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T12:52:14.620Z
IMO that sentence is better translated as "can you make it cheaper even more" instead of "can you make it more cheap".
ekd123
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T13:17:48.337Z
"可以便宜一点儿吗？"(Can (you) make it cheaper?) "再便宜一点儿，好吗？(Can (you) make it cheaper again, is it OK?)" 再 means again.
000
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T13:29:31.827Z
@000 In the lesson they said 再 can also mean "more" and gave some examples such as 再大一点儿 (bigger) or 再高一点儿 (taller), which is why I thought 再 couldn't mean "again" in this sentence...
Puco4
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T14:50:36.893Z
@Puco4 Maybe they means [this](http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=W00000009505)(sense 4) but I cannot verify whether or not it can be interpreted this way in this component(再便宜一点). I think it more probably means again.
000
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-06-04T17:00:36.730Z
@000 ah, I don't know enough chinese to understand that :S I understand the interpretation you give, but then there is this second interpretation of "more" such as 再大一点儿 as bigger or 再高一点儿 as taller. It also appears in [this dictionary](https://dictionary.reverso.net/chinese-english/%E5%86%8D). Because it is really similar to the other examples and they explained it in the same lesson, I thought "可以便宜一点儿吗?" was just the same with 再 being implicit...
Puco4
<grammar><characters><difference><sentence-structure><syntax>
Comparison question with implicit 再 zài?
# Comparison question with implicit 再 zài?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-06-04)

I just started learning chinese and I came across this dialogue from a lesson:

> A: Pínɡuǒzěnme mài ? 苹果怎么卖? *How much are the apples?*
>
> B: Sìkuài. 四块. *4 Yuan*.
>
> A: Yǒudiǎnr ɡuì. **Kěyǐpiányi yìdiǎnr mɑ?** 有点儿贵。**可以便宜一点儿吗？** *A bit expensive. Can you make it cheaper?*
>
> B: Sān kuài wǔ. 三块五. *3,5 Yuan*.
>
> A: **Zài piányi yìdiǎnr, hǎo mɑ? 再便宜一点儿，好吗？** *Can you make it cheaper?*
>
> B: Hǎo, sān kuài. 好，三块。*Ok, 3 Yuan.*

I'm wondering about the differences between:

1. Kěyǐpiányi yìdiǎnr mɑ? 可以便宜一点儿吗？
2. Zài piányi yìdiǎnr, hǎo mɑ? 再便宜一点儿，好吗？

In the lesson they said 再 zài can mean *more* in chinese, so I understand literally 2. as *More cheap a little bit, ok?*. So it is clear the speaker wants the product to be cheaper than it is now. However I do not completely understand 1., as literally would mean *Can it be cheap a little bit?*, missing the comparison specifier.

**Question:** What's the underlying grammar structure in 1.? Does actually have the word 再 zài implicit, like

> Kěyǐ(zài)piányi yìdiǎnr mɑ? 可以(再)便宜一点儿吗？

so it really becomes a "comparison" question such as 2.? Or does this mean comparisons in chinese are a little bit more flexible than other languages (like English), where you always need to specify them in some way?

I asked a chinese friend about this and he said usually 1. can be asked just single time and then if you want to ask for still a cheaper product you use 2. any number of times. Does this mean they are not completely equivalent as I expected?

**Tags:** grammar, characters, difference, sentence-structure, syntax

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 便宜一点儿 can be comparison, as in '比起那个，这个便宜一点儿' (this is cheaper compared with that). And it also means as an idiom 'to lower the price'. 再 is like asking for a lower price than the current price, so you can use it any number of times and even from the very beginning.  
> **username_1**: IMO that sentence is better translated as "can you make it cheaper even more" instead of "can you make it more cheap".  
> **username_2**: "可以便宜一点儿吗？"(Can (you) make it cheaper?) "再便宜一点儿，好吗？(Can (you) make it cheaper again, is it OK?)" 再 means again.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 In the lesson they said 再 can also mean "more" and gave some examples such as 再大一点儿 (bigger) or 再高一点儿 (taller), which is why I thought 再 couldn't mean "again" in this sentence...  
> **username_2**: @username_0 Maybe they means [this](http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/cgi-bin/cbdic/gsweb.cgi?o=dcbdic&searchid=Wusername_2username_209505)(sense 4) but I cannot verify whether or not it can be interpreted this way in this component(再便宜一点). I think it more probably means again.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 ah, I don't know enough chinese to understand that :S I understand the interpretation you give, but then there is this second interpretation of "more" such as 再大一点儿 as bigger or 再高一点儿 as taller. It also appears in [this dictionary](https://dictionary.reverso.net/chinese-english/%E5%86%8D). Because it is really similar to the other examples and they explained it in the same lesson, I thought "可以便宜一点儿吗?" was just the same with 再 being implicit...  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-06-04. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

"可以便宜吗？" = "Can it be cheap?"

"可以便宜一点儿吗？" = "Can it be cheaper?"

"可以(更)便宜一点儿吗？" = "Can it be cheaper (more)?" -- *compare to **cheaper** price*

可以(再)便宜一点儿吗？ = Can it be cheaper (again) -- *repeat 'the action **be** cheaper*

It may be easier to understand with different phrasing:

> "可以便宜一点儿吗？" = "Can you lower the price?"
>
> "可以(更)便宜一点儿吗？" = "Can you lower the price (more)?"
>
> "可以(再)便宜一点儿吗？" = "Can you lower the price (again)?"

You can repeat the same phrase as many time as you want until you get the lowest price you can get.


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2020-06-04. Score: 0

The structure of the first sentence is 可以便宜.

可以 is "can", 便宜 is something like V-ing form, a noun.

再 means '**again**', so it is not 'more', not a 'comparison'.

可以便宜一点儿吗？
再便宜一点儿，好吗？

Those literally means:

Can it be cheap?

Can it be cheap **again**?

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: But [in this dictionary](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/chinese-english/%E5%86%8D) they say it can also mean *more*...  

---

