<p>Erhua might differ in various dialects. Below I use Beijing dialect for example:</p>

<p>Erhua is hard to master, even for me(native southern Chinese). Sometimes I think it's unnecessary because the even the local might be wrong, but the wrong could be the right if everyone uses the wrong way.</p>

<ol>
<li>Meaning Difference. Put a 儿 after a word could have different meaning:</li>
</ol>

<p>「宝贝」和「宝贝儿」: the First one normally mean a precious item, the later one usually mean close people, like lover.</p>

<p>「汆」和「汆儿」: the First one mean a way to cook; 「汆儿」 usual means the marinade for dry noodle b.</p>

<ol start="2">
<li>Part of speech Difference:</li>
</ol>

<p>Verb -> Noun</p>

<pre><code>托 → 托儿 | 乐 → 乐儿 | 约会 → 约会儿
</code></pre>

<p>Adjective -> Noun</p>

<pre><code> 亮 → 亮儿 | 空 → 空儿 | 好 → 好儿
</code></pre>

<p>Verb-> Demonstrative</p>

<pre><code>   下 → 下儿 | 摊 → 摊儿 | 拨 → 拨儿
</code></pre>

<p>Noun ->Demonstrative</p>

<pre><code> 门 → 门儿 | 桌 → 桌儿 | 道 → 道儿
</code></pre>

<p>Etc.....</p>

<ol start="3">
<li>Show Emotion</li>
</ol>

<p>a. Positive </p>

<pre><code>命 → 小命儿 | 灯笼 → 小灯笼儿 | 剪子 → 小剪子儿 | 镜子 → 小镜子儿 |发小 → 发小儿 | 家雀 → 家雀儿 | 心肝 → 心肝儿
</code></pre>

<p>b. Negative</p>

<pre><code>光棍 → 光棍儿 | 小偷 → 小偷儿 | 傻冒 → 傻冒儿 | 白丁 → 白丁儿 

Bad place or bad thing, like "Death死", there are several saying to 玩儿完了|蹬腿儿了|翻白眼儿了|嗝儿屁了|嗝儿了|
</code></pre>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-19T22:47:14.480Z
很好的回答！三天前有了相似的问题。 我觉得，如果在你写的用‘儿’， 例如‘仔儿’或‘滚儿’然后人看你写的，这就是普通话。在北京花里人看’仔‘会说’zar‘看’滚‘会说’guar‘。什么‘儿’都没有！他们的方言改编了拼音。你怎么看法？
Pedroski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-19T23:01:34.700Z
@Pedroski  Firstly, Mandarin is based on "Beijing Dialect". That's why Mandarin shares similarities with "Beijing Dialect". Pinyin is a standard system for official usage. And 北京话里的仔actually is zai-er. Just like "they are" and "they're"
Kevman
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-19T22:03:59.177Z
2017-04-19T22:03:59.177Z
Kevman
<p>Adding the 儿 to the end of a word is known as 儿化 (er2hua4). Whether or not you use the 儿 really just comes down to regional accents/dialects, but the meaning of the word is unchanged. Generally speaking, northern mandarin dialects use the erhua more than southern ones; in some regions you'll almost never hear anyone use the erhua in speech.</p>

<p>There are some words where the added erhua changes the word's meaning, but these are usually regional/colloquial terms, such as 天儿, which means the same as 天气, not 天.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-19T18:28:25.267Z
2017-04-19T18:28:25.267Z
williamlue929
<p>I tend to see it a lot in text books and guides:
唱歌/唱歌儿
事/事儿
But it's always listed as optional, so what's the deal with it?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-19T14:30:57.780Z
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhua
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-04-26T01:34:57.320Z
used to adjust rhythm of pronunciations of a statement (i.e. tones, speed), to save efforts, weaken non-important words. when we has a long speech, lecture, we need adjust rhythm of statements, i.e. avoid keeping your mouth opening for a long period, let's change to pronounce a word with half-open mouth.
Daniel Yang
<grammar><meaning><mandarin><usage>
Why does Chinese sometimes put 儿 after verbs and nouns?
# Why does Chinese sometimes put 儿 after verbs and nouns?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-04-19)

I tend to see it a lot in text books and guides:
唱歌/唱歌儿
事/事儿
But it's always listed as optional, so what's the deal with it?

**Tags:** grammar, meaning, mandarin, usage
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erhua  
> **username_2**: used to adjust rhythm of pronunciations of a statement (i.e. tones, speed), to save efforts, weaken non-important words. when we has a long speech, lecture, we need adjust rhythm of statements, i.e. avoid keeping your mouth opening for a long period, let's change to pronounce a word with half-open mouth.  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2017-04-19. Score: 3

Erhua might differ in various dialects. Below I use Beijing dialect for example:
Erhua is hard to master, even for me(native southern Chinese). Sometimes I think it's unnecessary because the even the local might be wrong, but the wrong could be the right if everyone uses the wrong way.

Meaning Difference. Put a 儿 after a word could have different meaning:

「宝贝」和「宝贝儿」: the First one normally mean a precious item, the later one usually mean close people, like lover.
「汆」和「汆儿」: the First one mean a way to cook; 「汆儿」 usual means the marinade for dry noodle b.

Part of speech Difference:

Verb -> Noun
托 → 托儿 | 乐 → 乐儿 | 约会 → 约会儿

Adjective -> Noun
 亮 → 亮儿 | 空 → 空儿 | 好 → 好儿

Verb-> Demonstrative
   下 → 下儿 | 摊 → 摊儿 | 拨 → 拨儿

Noun ->Demonstrative
 门 → 门儿 | 桌 → 桌儿 | 道 → 道儿

Etc.....

Show Emotion

a. Positive 
命 → 小命儿 | 灯笼 → 小灯笼儿 | 剪子 → 小剪子儿 | 镜子 → 小镜子儿 |发小 → 发小儿 | 家雀 → 家雀儿 | 心肝 → 心肝儿

b. Negative
光棍 → 光棍儿 | 小偷 → 小偷儿 | 傻冒 → 傻冒儿 | 白丁 → 白丁儿 

Bad place or bad thing, like "Death死", there are several saying to 玩儿完了|蹬腿儿了|翻白眼儿了|嗝儿屁了|嗝儿了|

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: 很好的回答！三天前有了相似的问题。 我觉得，如果在你写的用‘儿’， 例如‘仔儿’或‘滚儿’然后人看你写的，这就是普通话。在北京花里人看’仔‘会说’zar‘看’滚‘会说’guar‘。什么‘儿’都没有！他们的方言改编了拼音。你怎么看法？  
> **username_3**: @Pedroski  Firstly, Mandarin is based on "Beijing Dialect". That's why Mandarin shares similarities with "Beijing Dialect". Pinyin is a standard system for official usage. And 北京话里的仔actually is zai-er. Just like "they are" and "they're"  

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### Answer by username_5 on 2017-04-19. Score: 3

Adding the 儿 to the end of a word is known as 儿化 (er2hua4). Whether or not you use the 儿 really just comes down to regional accents/dialects, but the meaning of the word is unchanged. Generally speaking, northern mandarin dialects use the erhua more than southern ones; in some regions you'll almost never hear anyone use the erhua in speech.

There are some words where the added erhua changes the word's meaning, but these are usually regional/colloquial terms, such as 天儿, which means the same as 天气, not 天.


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