Difference between revisions of "Ordinal numbers with "di""

Revision as of 09:47, 19 August 2011

Also known as: 序数 (xùshù), ordinals and sequence numbers.

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. This character is simply placed in front of the number:

第 + Number

Some examples:

第一
第二
第三
第四
小李是他的第三个女朋友。
这是我今天喝的第八瓶啤酒。
我是我们班同学里第二高的人。

Note that some nouns can form ordinals without 第. These include:

月
楼
层
姐
弟

With these, the number can be used directly. For example, 第七楼 is "the seventh floor".

Sources and further reading

外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照) (pp. 58 - 73)

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-== Potential articles / sections ==
+{{AKA|序数 (xùshù)|ordinals|sequence numbers}}
-* Ordinals formed with 第
-* Some nouns can take ordinal numbers without 第, e.g. 月, 楼, 层, 姐, 弟. In this case measure words are necessary to indicate quantities.
-* Siblings can be referred to be 老 followed by a number indicating which child they are in sequence. E.g. 老二 is the second child. The eldest child is referred to as 老大.
-AKA: ordinals
+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. This character is simply placed in front of the number:
+<div class="jiegou">
+第 + Number
+</div>
+Some examples:
+<div class="liju">
+* 第一
+* 第二
+* 第三
+* 第四
+* 小李 是 他的 <em>第三</em> 个 女朋友。
+* 这 是 我 今天 喝 的 <em>第八</em> 瓶 啤酒。
+* 我 是 我们 班 同学 里 <em>第二</em> 高的 人。
+</div>
+Note that some nouns can form ordinals without 第. These include:
+* 月
+* 楼
+* 层
+* 姐
+* 弟
+With these, the number can be used directly. For example, 第七楼 is "the seven''th'' floor".
+== Sources and further reading ==
-== Sources ==
 [http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp?_encoding=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&asin=B001J0ADWA&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B001J0ADWA 外国人实用汉语语法(中英文对照) (pp. 58 - 73)]
 [[Category:Number words]]