LEARN + CHINESE / 67 of 300 HSK 2
The First One, About a Dozen例 · 这是我第一次来北京
You’re describing a queue: your friend is second, and there are about a dozen people ahead. Chinese marks an order with 第 before the number. To give a rough count, 多 goes after the number phrase, with its position depending on the measure word.
这是我第一次来北京。
zhè shì wǒ dì yī cì lái Běijīng.
This is my first time in Beijing.
她住在第三层。
tā zhù zài dì sān céng.
She lives on the third floor.
前面有十多个人。
qiánmiàn yǒu shí duō ge rén.
There are more than ten people ahead.
我等了一个多小时。
wǒ děng le yí ge duō xiǎoshí.
I waited for a little over an hour.
Hint · 힌트
第 comes before the number and turns it into an ordinal: 第一 (“first”). With a whole number plus a measure word, 多 usually follows the measure word (十多个); with units of time or money, it can follow the number (一个多小时).
Vocabulary
| Chinese | English |
|---|---|
dì | prefix marking an ordinal |
dì yī cì | the first time |
dì yī | first |
dì èr | second |
dì sān | third |
céng | floor; layer |
duō | more than; many |
shí duō | more than ten |
yí ge duō xiǎoshí | a little over an hour |
rén | person |
qiánmiàn | ahead; in front |
xiǎoshí | hour |
děng | to wait |
Běijīng | Beijing |
lái | to come |
zhù | to live; stay |
dàyuē | about; approximately |
zuǒyòu | approximately |
yígòng | altogether |
hào | number; date marker |
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