<p>点儿: some, a little, a bit, a little bit, something</p>
<p>你要不要点儿咖啡?<br />
Would you care for some coffee?</p>
<p>Sometimes, 点儿 will not be used in English although it is used in the Chinese sentence.</p>
<p>你要买点儿什么?
you want buy some what?<br />
Do you want to buy something?</p>
<p>你 喝点儿什么?<br />
What would you like to drink?<br />
Would you like a little something to drink?</p>
<p>你们想要点儿什么零食？<br />
What snacks would you like?</p>
<p>你想点儿什么吗？<br />
Do you want something?</p>
<p>你想吃点儿什么吗？<br />
What would you like to eat?<br />
Would you like a little something to eat?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-11-29T16:52:36.830Z
2024-11-29T16:52:36.830Z
Pedroski
<p>First of all，你想点儿什么 is wrong。</p>
<p>But let us step back and talk about the “x儿” phrase, It is a 儿化音 phrase, which is an independent topic, I don't wanna talk too much here, but in a nut shell, 儿化音 is a lazy pronunciation method, it is used in minor part in a sentence.</p>
<p>You can only use 儿化音 in
a not important part or oral expression.</p>
<p>We don't talk too much about 儿化音 here.</p>
<p>So, in 你想点什么， 点( without 儿) is the verb, the predicate, the very important role in the sentence, at least in the sub sentence, so you  can not add 儿.</p>
<p>The difference is 点 means order , 点儿 means （a） little.</p>
<p>你要不要点儿咖啡？</p>
<p>要 is verb，点儿 means （a）little，which is an adverb or adjective.</p>
<p>You can't add 儿 to verb.</p>
<p>你不能给动词加儿化音。</p>
<p>btw, you cannot add 儿 to some important noun, again, I don't wanna talk about it.</p>
<p>儿化音 is a broad topic in Chinese, many Chinese people ( several billion) don't use it. I don't think you should take too much time on it. because it wont stop communicating.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-09T16:00:23.343Z
2024-12-09T16:24:14.587Z
2024-12-09T16:24:14.587Z
sfy
<p>I have already learnt that 点(儿) means &quot;a little&quot; or “some&quot;.</p>
<p>Question 1. So, for example, the translation of &quot;你要不要点儿咖啡?&quot; into English would be &quot;Do you want SOME coffee?&quot; Is that right?</p>
<p>Question 2. How would you translate the following sentences:
你要买点儿什么?
你喝点儿什么?
你们想要点儿什么零食？
I read somewhere that 点儿 can be used to soften a question, but what does 点儿 mean here?</p>
<p>Question 3. Moreover, I have found some more examples with 吗 added in the end! 什么 and 吗？Never seen this structure before. So, how would you translate the following sentences into English (and how is it different from the examples in Question2) :
你想点儿什么吗？
你想吃点儿什么吗？
你喝点儿什么吗？</p>
<p>thanks</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-04T01:20:15.263Z
This discussion may answer Q3, [What does 你要买点儿什么？ mean exactly? (吗 question vs. Wh- question)](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/16717/what-does-%e4%bd%a0%e8%a6%81%e4%b9%b0%e7%82%b9%e5%84%bf%e4%bb%80%e4%b9%88-mean-exactly-%e5%90%97-question-vs-wh-question)
zrsammy
<dictionary>
What does 点儿 mean in 点儿什么？structure?
# What does 点儿 mean in 点儿什么？structure?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-11-29)

I have already learnt that 点(儿) means "a little" or “some".

Question 1. So, for example, the translation of "你要不要点儿咖啡?" into English would be "Do you want SOME coffee?" Is that right?

Question 2. How would you translate the following sentences:
你要买点儿什么?
你喝点儿什么?
你们想要点儿什么零食？
I read somewhere that 点儿 can be used to soften a question, but what does 点儿 mean here?

Question 3. Moreover, I have found some more examples with 吗 added in the end! 什么 and 吗？Never seen this structure before. So, how would you translate the following sentences into English (and how is it different from the examples in Question2) :
你想点儿什么吗？
你想吃点儿什么吗？
你喝点儿什么吗？

thanks

**Tags:** dictionary

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This discussion may answer Q3, [What does 你要买点儿什么？ mean exactly? (吗 question vs. Wh- question)](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/16717/what-does-%e4%bd%a0%e8%a6%81%e4%b9%b0%e7%82%b9%e5%84%bf%e4%bb%80%e4%b9%88-mean-exactly-%e5%90%97-question-vs-wh-question)  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-11-29. Score: 2

点儿: some, a little, a bit, a little bit, something

你要不要点儿咖啡?  
Would you care for some coffee?

Sometimes, 点儿 will not be used in English although it is used in the Chinese sentence.

你要买点儿什么?
you want buy some what?  
Do you want to buy something?

你 喝点儿什么?  
What would you like to drink?  
Would you like a little something to drink?

你们想要点儿什么零食？  
What snacks would you like?

你想点儿什么吗？  
Do you want something?

你想吃点儿什么吗？  
What would you like to eat?  
Would you like a little something to eat?


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### Answer by username_3 on 2024-12-09. Score: 0

First of all，你想点儿什么 is wrong。

But let us step back and talk about the “x儿” phrase, It is a 儿化音 phrase, which is an independent topic, I don't wanna talk too much here, but in a nut shell, 儿化音 is a lazy pronunciation method, it is used in minor part in a sentence.

You can only use 儿化音 in
a not important part or oral expression.

We don't talk too much about 儿化音 here.

So, in 你想点什么， 点( without 儿) is the verb, the predicate, the very important role in the sentence, at least in the sub sentence, so you can not add 儿.

The difference is 点 means order , 点儿 means （a） little.

你要不要点儿咖啡？

要 is verb，点儿 means （a）little，which is an adverb or adjective.

You can't add 儿 to verb.

你不能给动词加儿化音。

btw, you cannot add 儿 to some important noun, again, I don't wanna talk about it.

儿化音 is a broad topic in Chinese, many Chinese people ( several billion) don't use it. I don't think you should take too much time on it. because it wont stop communicating.


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