Adjectives to Verbs

Go-Manly

It's a good question and I am not the person for a comprehensive answer, but I can give you one of them that demonstrates the lovely simplicity of the language.  You can turn an adjective into a noun in some cases by adding 一下 yīxià, for example:  

热 rè (adjective - hot)

rè yī xià (verb - heat up).  Example: 菜热一下 (heat up a dish)  

also 加热 (verb - heat up)

I'm sure others will come along with examples.   

BTW - I thought you said that you are not interested in Rugby League!  Have you had a change of heart now March has rolled around?  

Thanks, I had thought of that, but I was thinking more of yìdiǎnr, with the sense of 'to __ a bit more'. I thought yíxià could only be used with actual verbs. Would 热起来 (rè qǐlái) make any sense?

Re Rugby League, I think I said I wasn't interested in watching it. I still follow the results. And of course if Manly are doing well, my interest waxes over the season, and I might even watch the odd game. Remind me, are you a Tigers supporter?

热 rè is an adjective, noun AND verb.  In my example above (菜热一下) 热 is a verb.  

Perhaps in Chinese it is not a case of 'turning' adjectives into verbs, but that the one character is capable of doing both jobs.   

一点儿 just means 'a little' - it does not convey the idea of 'become' something or another.  In our 热 example: 

热一点儿 AND 有一点热 both mean 'a little hot'.  They do not mean 'become hot'.  热 is a verb meaning heat, so it does the job as it is.  热一下 carries the idea of 'heat a bit more' or 'heat gently' that you were after.  热起来 does not work - 起来 conveys the idea of something rising, physically, and in some cases in an abstract sense (as in rising up against an aggressor.)  

[Keep in mind that I am famously inept in grammar - just keen to practice what I should know - so maybe you should wait for better advice.] 

[I also made a mistake in my original post - I should have said 'turn an adjective into a verb'.]  

Raiders.  

Actually, since my last post, I have checked Nciku, and according to them 热起来 does mean 'heat up'. I still contend that it is 一点儿 that conveys the idea of 'a little more'. To be sure, I checked the Glossary, and they had the following sample sentences:

你要小心一点儿。(Nĭ yào xiăoxīn yìdiănr.)  You need to be a little more careful.

能再便宜一点儿吗？ (Néng zài piányi yìdiănr ma?)  Can you make it a bit cheaper?

I can now accept that 热一下 is valid, given that 热, as you say, can also function as a verb. But I have my doubts about, for example 短一下 (duǎn yíxià).

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what CPod have to say about this on Monday.

So there you are - I don't use any of those resources you have at your disposal (Nciku). I just listen to the way people speak. I only recently 'discovered' the Glossary - certainly looks useful.

I don't want to get into a debate on a subject that I am somewhat dodgy (or lead you astray) but in the你要小心一点儿 example from the glossary I understand the 要 to be the 'operative' word for the sense of 'becoming' or 'getting' that you are after, rather than the一点儿. Ditto 再 in the next example.

I take the point about热起来 (and it does convey something rising so I did contradict myself ) but I will prefer 加热 here where I live because that is what people say for heating something up. I try to learn from what I hear, and asking for clarification from native speakers.

I admit I am out of my depth in these grammar discussions but I see the benefit of learning some and would like to do something about it.

There is not a standard way of turning adjectives into verbs in Chinese. Sometimes we can turn the adjective into the verb by prefixing it with '变' or '弄'. Sometimes we just use the adjective as a verb.

For example,

wet - to wet  湿 - 你去把毛巾“弄湿”——你去“湿”一下毛巾。

long - to lengthen  长 ——延长，加长

short - to shorten   短——弄短，变短

big - to enlarge    大——把它变大，放大

hot - to heat   热——加热——热一下这个菜

cold - to cool   冷——变凉，弄凉——水太烫了，你能弄凉一点吗？

bad - to worsen  坏 ——恶化，变得更糟——情况更糟了。

good - to improve   好——变好，好转，提高——情况有所好转。他变好了。他的中文提高了不少。

Thanks for that lujiaojie. Are you also able to add to the discussion above between bodawei and myself? In particular the use of 一点儿 and 一下.

verb+一下

热 can be use as a verb, so you can say: 热一下.

短 can not be use as a verb, you can say : 弄短一点儿

adj.+一点儿

小心一点儿

便宜一点儿