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

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== Sources and further reading ==
 
== Sources and further reading ==
  
* [[A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法)]] (pp. 58 - 73) [http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp?_encoding=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&asin=B001J0ADWA&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B001J0ADWA →buy]
+
* [[A Practical Chinese Grammar For Foreigners (外国人实用汉语语法)]] (pp. 58-73) [http://www.amazon.cn/mn/detailApp?_encoding=UTF8&tag=allset-23&linkCode=as2&asin=B001J0ADWA&camp=536&creative=3132&creativeASIN=B001J0ADWA →buy]
 
* [[Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed)]] (pp. 183) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276385 →buy]
 
* [[Integrated Chinese: Level 1, Part 1 (3rd ed)]] (pp. 183) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0887276385/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=allset-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399369&creativeASIN=0887276385 →buy]
  
 
[[Category:Number words]]
 
[[Category:Number words]]

Revision as of 06:25, 30 January 2012

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 第二 高的 人。

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

With these, the number can be used directly. For example, 七楼 is "the seventh floor",or 二姐 "the second oldest daughter".

See also

Sources and further reading