快 vs 快点, what's the point of "点" in this case?

Question

快 is one of the HSK level 2 vocabulary words which means "quick". Issue is this: I know online translators are unreliable but each translator I've used translates "快点去开门" as "Go and get the door" while completely missing the "quickly" aspect. When I instead type "快点去开门" the translators understand it to mean "Hurry up and get the door." (as it should).

So is this a problem with the online translators or is the "点" required? I know a few different ways "点" is used but I can't tell what its purpose in "快点" is. If the "点" is necessary to get the point across (no pun intended) why does every HSK vocabulary list I look up list "快" rather than "快点"?

Answer 1

点 (or 点儿 in Northern-speak) is short for 一点 (一点儿) / "one bit", so 快(一)点(儿) means "quick by a bit" = a bit more quickly (than the speed at the point of speaking).

I love the pun in your "What's the point of 点..."; one of the definitions of 点 is "point / dot" (as in decimal point; 5.3 = 五点三).

Answer 2

一点 means a dot or point originally, also means a bit or a little. But, often, an extra 儿 is appended for the meaning a bit. That means, if you say 这一点 it usually means this point/view, 这一点儿 it means so little or few. But sometimes you don't need it, depending on the context. The tone of 一 is the fourth tone here. If you read 一 in the first tone, it means generally one o'clock. For example, 现在一点了 means it is one o'clock.

When translate it in Google, I got hurry to open the door, just try it here.