ChineseGrammarWiki/MD/A2/86.mw.html

<p>We use ordinal numbers to express things like &quot;number one&quot; or &quot;second,&quot; so mastering them in Chinese is important. Fortunately, they are also very easy to learn by just adding the prefix 第 (dì).</p>
<h2 id="basic-usage">Basic Usage</h2>
<p>In English, there are four different suffixes for ordinal numbers: <em>-st</em>, <em>-nd</em>, <em>-rd</em> and <em>-th</em>. 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:</p>
<h3 id="structure">Structure</h3>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>第 + Number</p>
</div>
<h3 id="examples">Examples</h3>
<table class="table big-text table-striped table-bordered">
<tr>
<th width="20%">
<p>Chinese</p>
</th>
<th width="25%">
<p>English</p>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 一<span class="pinyin">dì-yī</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The first</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 二<span class="pinyin">dì-èr</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The second</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 三<span class="pinyin">dì-sān</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The third</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 四<span class="pinyin">dì-sì</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The fourth</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 五<span class="pinyin">dì-wǔ</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The fifth</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 六<span class="pinyin">dì-liù</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The sixth</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 七<span class="pinyin">dì-qī</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The seventh</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 八<span class="pinyin">dì-bā</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The eighth</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 九<span class="pinyin">dì-jiǔ</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The ninth</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>第 十<span class="pinyin">dì-shí</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The tenth</p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<h2 id="full-pattern-with-measure-words">Full Pattern with Measure Words</h2>
<p>You can also add in a <a href="measure_word" title="wikilink">measure word</a> and a <a href="noun" class="uri" title="wikilink">noun</a> to make the structure a bit fuller.</p>
<h3 id="structure-1">Structure</h3>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>第 + Number + Measure Word + Noun</p>
</div>
<h3 id="examples-1">Examples</h3>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>我 是 <em>第 一</em> <strong> 个 </strong> 到 公司 的 人。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ shì <em>dì-yī</em> <strong>gè</strong> dào gōngsī de rén.</span><span class="trans">I'm the first person that came to the office.</span></li>
<li>他 要 坐 早上 <em>第 一</em> <strong>班</strong> 地铁 去 上班。<span class="pinyin">Tā yào zuò zǎoshang <em>dì-yī</em> <strong> bān</strong> dìtiě qù shàngbān.</span><span class="trans">He needs to take the first train in the morning to go to work.</span></li>
<li>小李 是 她 的 <em>第 三</em> <strong>个</strong> 男朋友。<span class="pinyin">Xiǎo Lǐ shì tā de <em>dì-sān</em> <strong>gè</strong> nánpéngyou.</span><span class="trans">Little Li is her third boyfriend.</span></li>
<li>我 的 <em>第 一</em> <strong>个</strong>中文 老师 是 美国 人。<span class="pinyin">Wǒ de <em>dì-yī</em> <strong>gè</strong> Zhōngwén lǎoshī shì Měiguó rén.</span><span class="trans">My first Chinese teacher was American.</span></li>
<li>爸爸 的 <em>第 一</em> <strong>个</strong>手机 是 NOKIA。<span class="pinyin">Bàba de <em>dì-yī</em> <strong>gè</strong> shǒujī shì NOKIA.</span><span class="trans">Dad‘s first cell phone was a Nokia.</span></li>
<li>你 的 <em>第 一</em> <strong>个</strong>工作 是 什么？<span class="pinyin">Nǐ de <em>dì-yī</em> <strong>gè</strong> gōngzuò shì shénme? </span><span class="trans">What was your first job? </span></li>
<li>到 美国 的 <em>第 二</em><strong>个</strong> 月，我 找到 了 工作。<span class="pinyin">Dào Měiguó de <em>dì-èr</em><strong> gè</strong> yuè, wǒ zhǎodào le gōngzuò .</span><span class="trans">I found a job the second month I was in the USA.</span></li>
<li><em>第 二</em> <strong>行</strong><em> 第 五</em> <strong>个</strong> 汉字 怎么 读？<span class="pinyin"><em>Dì-èr</em> <strong>háng</strong> <em> dì-wǔ </em> <strong>gè</strong> Hànzì zěnme dú? </span><span class="trans">How do you read the fifth character from the second line? </span></li>
<li>这 次 考试，我 是 我们 班 <em>第 一</em>。<span class="pinyin">Zhè cì kǎoshì, wǒ shì wǒmen bān <em>dì-yī</em>.</span><span class="trans">On this test, I was first in our class.</span></li>
<li>这 次 比赛，我们 班 <em>第 一</em>，他们 班 <em>第 二</em>。<span class="pinyin">Zhè cì bǐsài, wǒmen bān <em>dì-yī</em>, tāmen bān <em>dì-èr</em>.</span><span class="trans">In this contest, our class is the first, their class is the second.</span></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: 天 (tiān), 年 (nián), 周 (zhōu), 次 (cì), etc.</p>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li><em>第 一</em> <strong>天</strong>，我们 在 宾馆 里。<span class="pinyin"><em>Dì-yī</em> <strong>tiān</strong>, wǒmen zài bīnguǎn lǐ.</span><span class="trans">On the first day, we will be in the hotel.</span></li>
<li>来 上海 以后 的 <em>第 二</em> <strong>年</strong>，他 开 了 这 家 公司。<span class="pinyin">Lái Shànghǎi yǐhòu de <em>dì-èr</em> <strong>nián</strong>, tā kāi le zhè jiā gōngsī.</span><span class="trans">He started this company his second year after coming to Shanghai.</span></li>
<li>下 个 月 的 <em>第 一</em> <strong>周</strong> 老板 要 出差。<span class="pinyin">Xià gè yuè de <em>dì-yī</em><strong> zhōu </strong>, lǎobǎn yào chūchāi.</span><span class="trans">The boss needs to go on a business trip the first week of next month.</span></li>
<li>这 是 我 <em>第 一</em> <strong>次</strong> 去 北京。<span class="pinyin">Zhè shì wǒ <em>dì-yī</em> <strong>cì</strong> qù Běijīng.</span><span class="trans">This is my first time going to Beijing.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="exceptions">Exceptions</h2>
<p>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 &quot;the seven<em>th</em> floor,&quot; even though there is no 第 (dì).</p>
<table class="table big-text table-striped table-bordered">
<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>楼<span class="pinyin">lóu</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>floor (of a building)</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>七楼<span class="pinyin">qī lóu</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>层<span class="pinyin">céng</span></p>
</td>
<td>
<p>floor (of a building)</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>一层<span class="pinyin">yī céng</span></p>
</td>
</tr>
</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 href="A_Practical_Chinese_Grammar_For_Foreigners_(外国人实用汉语语法)" title="wikilink">A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法)</a> (pp. 58-73) <a href="http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp?_encoding=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-23&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;asin=B001J0ADWA&amp;camp=536&amp;creative=3132&amp;creativeASIN=B001J0ADWA">→buy</a></li>
<li><a href="Chinese:_An_Essential_Grammar,_Second_Edition" title="wikilink">Chinese: An Essential Grammar, Second Edition</a> (pp. 17-8) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415372615/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0415372615">→buy</a></li>
<li><a href="Integrated_Chinese:_Level_1,_Part_1_(3rd_ed)" title="wikilink">Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed)</a> (p. 183) <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=allset-20&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;camp=217145&amp;creative=399369&amp;creativeASIN=0887276385">→buy</a></li>
</ul>
<p>     </p>
<p><a href="Category:Number_words" title="wikilink">Category:Number words</a> <a href="Category:Table" class="uri" title="wikilink">Category:Table</a></p>