"你有点儿高。"
Translation:You are a bit tall.
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My initial feeling was for “You are quite tall”, which need not mean “very tall”. In British English I don’t think you would ever say “a bit tall” on its own, without a context. I’d not go so far as to say that “a bit tall” is wrong, but imo it’s not good English without a context. So, “Do you like driving that small car?” “No, I’m a bit tall”.
Just looking at someone and saying “ You’re a bit tall” might actually mean “You’re very tall!”!
Google's reverse translation of 你有点八高 is "You are a little bit high", lol
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Many posts on the forum say 有点儿 means too much of something in a negative way. The natural English equivalent would be: "You are a bit too tall" or " you are a little too tall."
有点 is placed before an adjective, and while used for descriptions, it also expresses a tone of complaint by the speaker, or some other form of negative impression. It doesn't just mean "a bit," but rather "a bit too" (for the speaker's liking).
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Comparing_%22youdian%22_and_%22yidian%22
However, Duo marked "you are a bit too tall" as wrong.
exactly. Duolingo has so many errors and they want me to pay for the lessons...?
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Yes, if you translate word for word. But this is not what languages are. Sometimes word for word does not make sense in the language being translated to. The meaning is "you are a bit too tall" and both "有点儿太高" and "有点儿高" happen to translate the same in English. "You are a bit tall" does not mean the same, if it barely means anything in English, for the matter
"You are quite tall" gives the same meaning and should be accepted as well, right?
I dont think so. "Quite" feels like "very," whereas 有一点 is more like "slightly tall."
I agree with m.edres. "Quite" in this sentence might mean "very" but it could equally mean "a little". It depends on how you say it - ie what intonation you use. "Tall" could be used in a "down-up" tone in which case the word "quite" would mean "a small amount". Use a strong "down' tone on "tall" and quite would imply really tall.
I think a British English speaker might say quite when they mean "a little" but to American English speakers it's not the same
Just to confuse things, when we say quite tall we mean a bit, but quite tall means a lot. And the answer I gave here was 'a bit tall', but honestly, if a British person says "you're a bit tall" we probably mean you're very tall as well!
Only in that 一点儿 and 一下 can mean "a little bit" of something. But 一下 is really more like "once"; 等一下 = wait a moment, 看一下 = "take a look", 休息一下 = "rest a bit".
If you said "有点儿高” in the right way it would mean too tall - "quite" is a reasonable hedge.
Although the sentences are similar, a bit and quite are different words by themselves. Just like a bit and quite are different words in English, Chinese probably also has separate words for them, ig they even have a word for quite at all.
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I answered "...kind of tall." and of course was wrong. I would never say "a bit tall." and find it "a bit" strange as a native English speaker in the U.S.
If you looked at the Duolingo tips, you would know that 有点儿 means complaining politely
With adjectives you don't usualy use 是 unless you are stressing it out. It is discused above so you should know by now. 你很高 Here 有点儿 (somewhat) plays the same grammatical role as 很 (very).
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"a bit" is not something I say or hear many Americans say. I answered "...somewhat tall." and was marked wrong.
Ok, is it just me, or does the pronunciation sound a little off? I'm hearing 你有点儿儿高 (with the second 儿 being pronounced by it self). I don't know, it just sounds weird imo
You correctly identified that the pronunciation is wrong, "点儿“ should not be pronounced separately.
What does you are a bit tall even mean in English! Do they mean a bit too tall? Or quite tall, rather tall, very tall?
Why is it “很” as the connecting conjecture and not “是”？ I thought they taught US that “很” means very， and not to mean you are， which we were taught was “是”。
Why is 有 used here? I know it's right but to me it would translate to "You have a bit tall".
有点儿 is distinct from 一点 in that it signifies the adjective as undesirable, e.g. 有点儿冷 is, roughly, "it's a bit TOO cold." The meaning comes from the compound word - it doesn't arise directly from the literal translation of the component characters.
Thank you Captain Obvious. The original post says "I know it's right". Your reply is not very helpful.
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My point is, that “why” isn’t a helpful question. How does it work? OK - “You have the quality of tallness”.
None of your examples apply here. In all of them "have" refers to the noun, not the adjective as in the instant question. When you say "You have big feet", what you "have" are feet. You don't have "big"
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In British English it’s as normal to say “You have big feet” as “your feet are big”. So we have at least two ways of saying it.
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We just tend not to use the “you have” form for a whole body. I think we do when the type of body is qualified in some other way: “He had a tall, basketball player’s, body”.
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If you were talking to a boxer you might say something along the lines of “you have height, but you don’t have reach”.
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Even: “you have a bit of height, but you lack reach”. “That gunfighter – he’s got some cool!” (Can’t add new comment so added to most recent)
Actually, that's the correct way to say the 儿 ending. You should NOT hear the "ăn", and 点儿 should all be squeezed inyo 1 syllable. Ironically, the audio but have been changed since you wrote this, because now it incorrectly pronounces 点 and 儿 like 2 separate words. 2020.12.17.
I agree that 'quite tall' should be accepted - 'a bit tall' would sound odd to English ears (I don't know about US usage).
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As a native English speaker and someone who has also taught ESL, I think the problem here is that native speakers don't usually pair "a bit" with an adjective that has a positive connotation. And, like it or not, I think there is a preference for tall. You'd hear "You're a bit short." You'll hear "He's a bit stupid." But one wouldn't say "He's a bit smart." So this really doesn't work in English. I tend to think the meaning is "You're somewhat/slightly tall."
I agree. 'a bit tall' sounds odd. I would expect 'quite tall' or 'rather tall' or even 'on the tall side' or 'tallish'!
Depends on context. If you were looking for someone of a particular size maybe " a bit tall" would be OK. eg if you were considering him for scrum half, or to squeeze through a half-open window because you had locked yourself out of the house(!) ..You might say "He/I could be a bit tall."
the pronunciation seems off. the man pronounces it as: ni2 you2 dian3 er2 gao1 but it should be ni2 you2 diar3 gao1. is that right?
