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一丁点儿 (yī dīng diǎn r) — a tiny bit; a little; a smidgen

Definition

Colloquial quantifier for 'a tiny bit / a smidgen', used mainly in spoken Chinese with mass nouns (food, money, time). Often reduplicated as 一丁点儿 as in the examples.

quantifier
a tiny bita littlea smidgen

Examples

  • 一丁点儿。
    Wǒ zhī chī le yī dīng diǎn r fàn.
    I only ate a tiny bit of rice.
  • 一丁点儿？
    Nǐ hái yǒu yī dīng diǎn r qián ma?
    Do you still have a little bit of money?
  • 一丁点儿。
    Tā zhǐ yǒu yī dīng diǎn r shí jiān.
    He only has a little bit of time.

Origin

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

一 is drawn as one horizontal stroke, marking the number one.

Open 一 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

丁 may picture a nail head, a person's head, a square city wall, or a square star pattern.

Open 丁 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 點; 点 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
黑黑hēiblack
Sound part声符shēngfú
占
占zhàn點diǎn(r)
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 點 pairs 黑 (black) with 占 for its sound; the simplified 点 is a later abbreviation.

Open 点 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape 儿 is a simple drawing of a standing person, used as an alternate form of the character for person.

Open 儿 →
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