We usea bit(of) orbits(of) to refer to quantities. The phrases can refer to both abstract and concrete things. They are an informal alternative tosome, ora piece oforpieces of:
Do they needa bit ofhelp with their luggage?(or …somehelp …)
There werebits ofglass everywhere.(or …pieces ofglass …)
Have you losta bit ofweight?(or …someweight?)
The storm had broken the fence intobits.(meaning ‘into small pieces’)
A bitorbitsoften have deliberately vague and informal meanings:
I’ve given himafewbits ofadvice.
These words can also soften the meaning, so that a statement is not too direct:
Wearing those shoes isa bit ofa problem for her, I’m afraid.
We also usea bitto modify adjectives, or as an adverb. It is more informal thana little:
They had gota bittired working in the garden.
Can you waita bitfor us? We’re in heavy traffic.
A bitis also used to modify comparative adjectives and comparative determiners:
The climate in New Zealand wasa bitnicer than we had expected.
However,a bitanda bit ofare not normally used to modify comparative adjectives before nouns:
It wasa bitmore entertaining than the last play we saw.
Not:a bit more entertaining play. ora bit more of entertaining play.