[ Verb + 一点儿 + adv ] structure questions

[mortifera]

Are there specific rules governing what order you can put the different parts of the structure?

For example, you can say 少吃一点儿 or 吃少一点儿，but you can't say 少一点儿吃。

Similarly you can also say 喝多一点儿 and 给少一点儿 or 多喝一点儿 and 少给一点儿, but not 多一点儿喝 or 少一点儿给?

but you can say 去挽一点儿，挽一点儿去，or 挽去一点儿？How come you can put the verb after 一点儿 in the middle one?

Similarly, you can say 早一点儿起， 起疑点儿早 or 早起一点儿。What distinction allows it to be any of the three while others cannot?

Thanks so much -- I hope I explained this well enough.

[chrix]

It would help if you first old us:

- whose judgements are those sentences based on? Are those the judgements of a native speaker? Be aware that there can be considerable interindividual differences between different native speakers. If you elicited these sentences from native speakers, repeating a lot of very similar structures usually leads to confusion on the part of the native speaker asked for judgement.

- it would be helpful if you would provide each example with a translation. This always helps when discussing grammatical questions.

GENERALLY

一点 follows the adjective it is modifying. Now if such an adjective is modifying a verb, usually it moves before that, giving a structure like: ADJ - V - 一点. I obviously haven't run any numbers, but I'd say that's the preferred structure. Since ADJ-一点 also does occur, it can lead to different structures depending on pragmatic factors (context, emphasis etc.), which would be beyond the scope of any grammar book. You'd need to observe actual language use and get a feeling for when to deviate in what way from the preferred structure.

[mortifera]

The judgement about the sentences is from a mainland native Chinese speaker -- that's all I'm really sure of.

The translations would be:

少吃一点儿 or 吃少一点儿，but you can't say 少一点儿吃。= eat a little less

喝多一点儿 and 给少一点儿 or 多喝一点儿 and 少给一点儿, but not 多一点儿喝 or 少一点儿给 = drink a little more and give a little (few) somethings less

去挽一点儿，挽一点儿去，or 挽去一点儿 = go a little later

早一点儿起， 起疑点儿早 or 早起一点儿 = wake up a little earlier

Could it depend on whether or not the "less/more" is talking specifically about an understood object (eat more [food], drink more [drink]) compared to an adverb that actually describes the action ("later" in "go later" does not describe an implicit object)?

Thanks for the general advice!

[chrix]

少吃一点儿 or 吃少一点儿，but you can't say 少一点儿吃。= eat a little less

喝多一点儿 and 给少一点儿 or 多喝一点儿 and 少给一点儿, but not 多一点儿喝 or 少一点儿给 = drink a little more and give a little (few) somethings less

去晚一点儿，晚一点儿去，or 晚去一点儿 = go a little later

早一点儿起， 起一点儿早 or 早起一点儿 = wake up a little earlier

（fixed some typos)

Well, relying only on one speaker's intuitions might be a problem (as well as the problem that the more similar-sounding questions you ask the speaker they can get confused). So another approach is to use textual corpora to see in what way the construction gets used. (And there's nothing against combining the two.) I'm not sure if this has been looked at in detail.

But I still stand by what I wrote in my first reply: ADJ-V-一点儿 being the preferred structure, with the pragmatically marked variants ADJ-一点儿-V, V-ADJ-一点儿 (this would predict that anything where 一点儿 precedes the ADJ, as in one of your examples, is highly unusual). The exact details might be down to pragmatic factors and collocational effects (i.e. some variants of specific words are just preferred over others, for no apparent logical reason).

Why not ask your speaker which of the variants is the most natural sounding one? (In grammar, there's a grey zone of something that doesn't "feel wrong" but just "sounds bad". )

[starb6]

That's really a good question!

I think both the structures, adj + v +一点儿 and V + adj + 一点儿, are correct. And both of them are pupular.... But the third way ,' adj + 一点儿 + V or V + 一点儿 + adj, i.e.吃一点儿多or 多一点吃 , are totoally wrong.

[HashiriKata]

But the third way ,' adj + 一点儿 + V or V + 一点儿 + adj, i.e.吃一点儿多or 多一点吃 , are totoally wrong.

Really? Are these all wrong?

慢一点儿吃

有一点儿慢

[taylor04]

I think I should note a little difference in them as well, while they are usually interchangeable, if I was given only these sentences I would have seen different meanings.

喝多一点儿

drink a little more

你再喝多一点儿白酒吧

多喝一点儿

drink a lot

我们今晚多喝一点儿白酒吧

I'm not saying these cant be interchanged, I believe they can in most situations, but the general meaning is a little different. Most of those sentences have little differences like that, and I'd use them in different ways.

[HashiriKata]

drink a little more

你再喝多一点儿白酒吧

I think it should be without 多:

drink a little more

你再喝一点儿白酒吧

Otherwise, just say

你多喝一点儿白酒吧

[taylor04]

Youre right, it would be a little unnatural to say it that way. Possibly completely wrong, not 100% sure, I was just emphasizing that the meanings can often be interchanged, but there is a bit of a difference