Expressing "among" with "dangzhong"

当中（dāngzhōng） means "among," or more literally "in the middle of." In English this is a bit like "of," where you would say, "of all of my friends, you are the most loyal." Also, 当中 can be used to express being in the middle of an activity or process that is fairly formal in nature e.g being in the middle of negotiating rather than being in the middle of talking on the phone.

Structure

Group + 当中

Process + 当中

Examples

• 你 是 我 所有 朋友 当中 最 聪明 的 一 个。Nǐ shì wǒ suǒyǒu péngyou dāngzhōng zuì cōngmíng de yīgè.Of all of my friends, you are the smartest one.
• 在 这 一百 个 选手 当中 我 表现 得 最 出色。Zài zhè yībǎi gè xuǎnshǒu dāngzhōng wǒ biǎoxiàn dé zuì chūsè.Among these one hundred participants, my performance was the most outstanding.
• 他们 当中 很多 都 是 上海人。Tāmen dāngzhōng hěn duō dōu shì Shànghǎi rén.Among them are many Shanghainese.
• 五 个 人 当中 有 一 个 人 是 小偷。Wǔ gè rén dāngzhōng yǒu yī gè rén shì xiǎotōu.Of the five people, one of them is a thief.
• 在 这么 多 家 餐厅 当中 ，就是 他们家 比较 好吃。Zài zhème duō jiā cāntīng dāngzhōng, jiùshì tāmen jiā bǐjiào hǎochī.Of the many restaurants, their's is better.
• 这 个 工程 还在 计划 当中。Zhè gè gōngchéng hái zài jìhuà dāngzhōng.This engineering project is still in the planning stage.
• 这批产品还在设计 当中 ，还没有完全确定。Zhè pī chǎnpǐn hái zài shèjì dāngzhōng, hái méiyǒu wánquán quèdìng.This batch of products is still under design and have not been fully finished.
• 我们还在考虑 当中 ，你不要着急。Wǒmen hái zài kǎolǜ dāngzhōng, nǐ bùyào zhāojí.We are still considering, don't you worry.
• 现在还在调查 当中 ，还不知道结果。Xiànzài hái zài diàochá dāngzhōng, hái bù zhīdào jiéguǒ.It still under investigation, so the result is not yet known.
• 我还在搬家 当中 ，每天要处理很多事情。Wǒ hái zài bānjiā dāngzhōng, měitiān yào chǔlǐ hěn duō shìqíng.I'm in the process of moving, everyday I have many things to deal with.

When used to express "among" 当中 is a little like 其中. However, 其中 means something more like "among the aforementioned," where as 当中 simply means "among." Furthermore 其中 cannot be used in relation to processes.

See also

• "Within (it/them)" as "qizhong"
• "One of" with "…zhi yi"

Sources and Further Reading

HSK5