eric
/
ChineseGrammarWiki


			
				
					
						
						
							123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258
							<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html>

<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
  <meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy for HTML5 for Linux version 5.2.0"/>
  <title>Ordinal numbers with "di"</title>
  <link href="../Styles/main.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"/>
</head>

<body>
  <h1>Ordinal numbers with "<span class="pinyinst">di</span>" "<span class="hanzist">第</span>"</h1>

  <p>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 <span class="hanzi">第</span> (<span class="pinyin">dì</span>).</p>

  <h2 id="basic-usage">Basic Usage</h2>

  <p>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: <span class="hanzi">第</span> (<span class="pinyin">dì</span>). This character is simply placed in front of the number:</p>

  <h3 id="structure">Structure</h3>

  <div class="deux">
    <p><span class="hanzist">第</span> + Number</p>
  </div>

  <h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>

  <table class="table big-text table-striped table-bordered">
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <th width="20%">
          <p>Chinese</p>
        </th>

        <th width="25%">
          <p>English</p>
        </th>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 一</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-yī</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The first</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 二</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-èr</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The second</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 三</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-sān</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The third</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 四</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-sì</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The fourth</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 五</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-wǔ</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The fifth</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 六</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-liù</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The sixth</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 七</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-qī</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The seventh</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 八</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-bā</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The eighth</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 九</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-jiǔ</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The ninth</p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">第 十</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">dì-shí</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>The tenth</p>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>

  <h2 id="full-pattern-with-measure-words">Full Pattern with Measure Words</h2>

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

  <h3 id="structure-1">Structure</h3>

  <div class="deux">
    <p><span class="hanzist">第</span> + Number + Measure Word + Noun</p>
  </div>

  <h3 id="examples-1">Examples</h3>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">我 是 第 一 个 到 公司 的 人。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Wǒ shì dì-yī gè dào gōngsī de rén.</span> <br/> I'm the first person that came to the office.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">他 要 坐 早上 第 一 班 地铁 去 上班。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Tā yào zuò zǎoshang dì-yī bān dìtiě qù shàngbān.</span> <br/> He needs to take the first train in the morning to go to work.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">小李 是 她 的 第 三 个 男朋友。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Xiǎo Lǐ shì tā de dì-sān gè nánpéngyou.</span> <br/> Little Li is her third boyfriend.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">我 的 第 一 个中文 老师 是 美国 人。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Wǒ de dì-yī gè Zhōngwén lǎoshī shì Měiguó rén.</span> <br/> My first Chinese teacher was American.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">爸爸 的 第 一 个手机 是 NOKIA。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Bàba de dì-yī gè shǒujī shì NOKIA.</span> <br/> Dad‘s first cell phone was a Nokia.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">你 的 第 一 个工作 是 什么？</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Nǐ de dì-yī gè gōngzuò shì shénme?</span> <br/> What was your first job?</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">到 美国 的 第 二个 月，我 找到 了 工作。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Dào Měiguó de dì-èr gè yuè, wǒ zhǎodào le gōngzuò .</span> <br/> I found a job the second month I was in the USA.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">第 二 行 第 五 个 汉字 怎么 读？</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Dì-èr háng dì-wǔ gè Hànzì zěnme dú?</span> <br/> How do you read the fifth character from the second line?</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">这 次 考试，我 是 我们 班 第 一。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Zhè cì kǎoshì, wǒ shì wǒmen bān dì-yī.</span> <br/> On this test, I was first in our class.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">这 次 比赛，我们 班 第 一，他们 班 第 二。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> Zhè cì bǐsài, wǒmen bān dì-yī, tāmen bān dì-èr.</span> <br/> In this contest, our class is the first, their class is the second.</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <p>Note that there are some words that don't use measure words because they themselves are already measure words. For example: <span class="hanzi">天</span> (<span class="pinyin">tiān</span>), <span class="hanzi">年</span> (<span class="pinyin">nián</span>), <span class="hanzi">周</span> (<span class="pinyin">zhōu</span>), <span class="hanzi">次</span> (<span class="pinyin">cì</span>), etc.</p>

  <div class="exemple">
    <ul>
      <li><span class="hanzi">第 一 天，我们 在 宾馆 里。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Dì-yī tiān, wǒmen zài bīnguǎn lǐ.</span> <br/> On the first day, we will be in the hotel.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">来 上海 以后 的 第 二 年，他 开 了 这 家 公司。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Lái Shànghǎi yǐhòu de dì-èr nián, tā kāi le zhè jiā gōngsī.</span> <br/> He started this company his second year after coming to Shanghai.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">下 个 月 的 第 一 周 老板 要 出差。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">Xià gè yuè de dì-yī zhōu , lǎobǎn yào chūchāi.</span> <br/> The boss needs to go on a business trip the first week of next month.</li>

      <li><span class="hanzi">这 是 我 第 一 次 去 北京。</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin"> Zhè shì wǒ dì-yī cì qù Běijīng.</span> <br/> This is my first time going to Beijing.</li>
    </ul>
  </div>

  <h2 id="exceptions">Exceptions</h2>

  <p>Note that some nouns can form ordinals without <span class="hanzi">第</span> (<span class="pinyin">dì</span>). With these, the number can be used directly. For example, <span class="hanzi">七楼</span> (<span class="pinyin">qī lóu</span>) is "<b>the seventh floor,</b>" even though there is no <span class="hanzi">第 </span>(<span class="pinyin">dì</span>).</p>

  <table class="table big-text table-striped table-bordered">
    <tbody>
      <tr>
        <th width="15%">
          <p>Chinese</p>
        </th>

        <th width="50%">
          <p>English</p>
        </th>

        <th width="20%">
          <p>Example</p>
        </th>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">楼</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">lóu</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>floor (of a building)</p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">七楼</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">qī lóu</span></p>
        </td>
      </tr>

      <tr>
        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">层</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">céng</span></p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p>floor (of a building)</p>
        </td>

        <td>
          <p><span class="hanzi">一层</span> <br/> <span class="pinyin">yī céng</span></p>
        </td>
      </tr>
    </tbody>
  </table>

  <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>

  <ul>
    <li><a href="Measure_words_for_counting" title="wikilink">Measure words for counting</a></li>
  </ul>

  <h2 id="sources-and-further-reading">Sources and further reading</h2>

  <ul>
    <li>A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (<span class="hanzi">外国人实用汉语语法</span>) (pp. 58-73)</li>

    <li>Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition (pp. 17-8)</li>

    <li>Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed) (p. 183)</li>
  </ul>
</body>
</html>