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那么点儿 (nà me diǎn r) — (colloquial, attributive) such a small amount of, so little/few

Definition

A colloquial adjective meaning 'such a small amount' — used before a noun to emphasize the amount is too little. Note: pinyin is nàmēdiǎnr (sometimes mistakenly marked nā).

adjective
(colloquial, attributive) such a small amount ofso little/few

Examples

  • 那么点儿？
    nà me diǎn r Qián zěn me gòu mǎi fáng zi?
    How can such a small amount of money be enough to buy a house?
  • 那么点儿。
    Tā zuò le nà me diǎn r shì jiù hǎn lèi.
    He did so little work and already complains of being tired.
  • 那么点儿。
    nà me diǎn r Cài wǒ men liǎng gè rén dōu bú gòu chī.
    Such a small amount of food isn't even enough for the two of us.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

那么so
那nàthat么mesuffix
后缀Suffix
点儿a little
点diǎna little儿érsuffix
后缀Suffix

那么 (“so”) and 点儿 (“a little”) combine to mean so little.

Characters in this word

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

Meaning part形符xíngfú
邑邑yìcity
Sound part声符shēngfú
冄
冉rǎn那nà
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The right part 邑 shows a city, and the left part 冄 (written 冉) gives the sound. The character first named a state and was later used to mean 'that'.

Open 那 →

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 麼; 么 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
幺幺yāosmall, tiny
Sound part声符shēngfú
麻
麻má麼
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The traditional form 麼 pairs 麻, which gives the sound, with 幺, which means small/tiny; the simplified 么 is a later shorthand.

Open 么 →

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 →
Appears in
Quantity & Amount

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