We use ordinal numbers to express things like "number one" or "second," so mastering them in Chinese is important. Fortunately, they are also very easy to learn by just adding the prefix 第 (dì).

Basic Usage

In English, there are four different suffixes for ordinal numbers: -st, -nd, -rd and -th. Chinese makes things a lot simpler by using one prefix for all ordinal numbers: 第 (dì). This character is simply placed in front of the number:

Structure

Examples

Full Pattern with Measure Words

Chinese	English
第一dì-yī	The first
第二dì-èr	The second
第三dì-sān	The third
第四dì-sì	The fourth
第五dì-wǔ	The fifth
第六dì-liù	The sixth
第七dì-qī	The seventh
第八dì-bā	The eighth
第九dì-jiǔ	The ninth
第十dì-shí	The tenth

You can also add in a measure word and a noun to make the structure a bit fuller.

Structure

Examples

我是 第一 个到公司的人。Wǒ shì dì-yī gè dào gōngsī de rén.I'm the first person that came to the office.
他要坐早上 第一 班地铁去上班。Tā yào zuò zǎoshang dì-yī bān dìtiě qù shàngbān.He needs to take the first train in the morning to go to work.
小李是她的 第三 个男朋友。Xiǎo Lǐ shì tā de dì-sān gè nánpéngyou.Little Li is her third boyfriend.
我的 第一 个中文老师是美国人。Wǒ de dì-yī gè Zhōngwén lǎoshī shì Měiguó rén.My first Chinese teacher was American.
爸爸的 第一 个手机是 NOKIA。Bàba de dì-yī gè shǒujī shì NOKIA.Dad‘s first cell phone was a Nokia.
你的 第一 个工作是什么？Nǐ de dì-yī gè gōngzuò shì shénme? What was your first job?
到美国的 第二个月，我找到了工作。Dào Měiguó de dì-èr gè yuè, wǒ zhǎodào le gōngzuò .I found a job the second month I was in the USA.
第二 行 第五 个汉字怎么读？Dì-èr háng dì-wǔ gè Hànzì zěnme dú? How do you read the fifth character from the second line?
这次考试，我是我们班 第一。Zhè cì kǎoshì, wǒ shì wǒmen bān dì-yī.On this test, I was first in our class.
这次比赛，我们班 第一，他们班 第二。Zhè cì bǐsài, wǒmen bān dì-yī, tāmen bān dì-èr.In this contest, our class is the first, their class is the second.

Note that there are some words that don't use measure words because they themselves are already measure words. For example: 天 (tiān), 年 (nián), 周 (zhōu), 次 (cì), etc.

第一 天，我们在宾馆里。Dì-yī tiān, wǒmen zài bīnguǎn lǐ.On the first day, we will be in the hotel.
来上海以后的 第二 年，他开了这家公司。Lái Shànghǎi yǐhòu de dì-èr nián, tā kāi le zhè jiā gōngsī.He started this company his second year after coming to Shanghai.
下个月的 第一 周老板要出差。Xià gè yuè de dì-yī zhōu , lǎobǎn yào chūchāi.The boss needs to go on a business trip the first week of next month.
这是我 第一 次去北京。Zhè shì wǒ dì-yī cì qù Běijīng.This is my first time going to Beijing.

Exceptions

Note that some nouns can form ordinals without 第 (dì). With these, the number can be used directly. For example, 七楼 (qī lóu) is "the seventh floor," even though there is no 第 (dì).

Chinese	English	Example
楼lóu	floor (of a building)	七楼qī lóu
层céng	floor (of a building)	一层yī céng

Basic Usage

Structure

Examples

Full Pattern with Measure Words

Structure

Examples

Exceptions

See also

Sources and further reading