<p>My textbook gives me the following two examples of 一下, saying that the 一下 in each sentence doesn't mean the same thing:</p>

<ul>
<li>你去问一下老师 (Just ask your teacher)</li>
<li>我打了孩子一下 (I smacked my child)</li>
</ul>

<p>Question 1. I'd like to check again with native speakers what the 一下 from 我打了孩子一下 means exactly. Does the 一下 mean how many the speaker smacked her/his child, only one time in this case, or act as an adverb like 'a little bit'?</p>

<p>Question 2. Even though the objects (老师 and 孩子) equally refer to persons, I guess the 一下 conveys different meanings depending on its position. So, I know this question sounds stupid but would there be any difference if I change the place of 一下 as follows?</p>

<ul>
<li>你去问一下老师 → 你去问老师一下</li>
<li>打孩子一下 → 打一下孩子</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-02-11T07:57:17.687Z
(... long speech deleted.) **In practice**, this subtlety is overwhelmingly ignored nowadays. Both position of 一下 can mean either "one time" or "a little bit" and you need to figure it out by context.
Stan
<translation><grammar>
Questions about the meaning and position of 一下
# Questions about the meaning and position of 一下

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-02-11)

My textbook gives me the following two examples of 一下, saying that the 一下 in each sentence doesn't mean the same thing:

* 你去问一下老师 (Just ask your teacher)
* 我打了孩子一下 (I smacked my child)

Question 1. I'd like to check again with native speakers what the 一下 from 我打了孩子一下 means exactly. Does the 一下 mean how many the speaker smacked her/his child, only one time in this case, or act as an adverb like 'a little bit'?

Question 2. Even though the objects (老师 and 孩子) equally refer to persons, I guess the 一下 conveys different meanings depending on its position. So, I know this question sounds stupid but would there be any difference if I change the place of 一下 as follows?

* 你去问一下老师 → 你去问老师一下
* 打孩子一下 → 打一下孩子

**Tags:** translation, grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: (... long speech deleted.) **In practice**, this subtlety is overwhelmingly ignored nowadays. Both position of 一下 can mean either "one time" or "a little bit" and you need to figure it out by context.  

---

## 0 answers

