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One of the – Essential Chinese Vocabulary

Say you are explaining to a friend about the latest film you have seen, you really enjoyed the film but it isn’t your absolute favourite, though it is one of your most favourite films. So, how can you express this in Chinese?

之一（之一）

Pinyin: zhī yī
English: one of; one of the; one out of x
Notes: This comes after the subject in question and is literally the same as the English for ‘one of’. Using the example from above about films, in Chinese we could say: 我最喜歡的電影之一 （我最喜欢的电影之一 wǒ zuì xǐ huān de diàn yǐng zhī yī）, which would literally be “my favourite film, one of”, or translated properly: “one of my favourite films”.
之一 is also used to express fractions, for instance, a quarter is 四分之一 （sì fēn zhī yī） literally “1 out 4″, a third is 三分之一 and so on.

This is an extremely useful construct that is also in very common usage, and there’s obviously more things to talk about than favourite movies using it. Below are three examples of 之一 in use:

Example One

犯罪（犯罪）

Pinyin: fàn zuì
English: a crime; to commit a crime

嫌疑人（嫌疑人）

Pinyin: xián yí rén
English: a suspect

Traditional/Simplified
犯罪嫌疑人之一

Pinyin
fànzuì xiányírén zhīyī

English
One of the criminal suspects

 

Example Source

Example Two

電信（电信）

Pinyin: diàn xìn
English: telecommunications

運營商（运营商）

Pinyin: yùn yíng shāng
English: an operator; to be in operation 運營（运营）business 商

Traditional
三大電信運營商之一

Simplified
三大电信运营商之一

Pinyin
sān dà diànxìn yùnyíngshāng zhīyī

English
One of the three biggest telecom operators

Example Source

Example Three

原因之一（yuán yīn zhī yī）: One of the reasons

稱（称）

Pinyin: chēng
English: to state; to declare

空襲（空袭）

Pinyin: kōng xí
English: air attack; air raid

厭惡（厌恶）

Pinyin: yàn wù
English: to hate; to detest

卡扎菲（卡扎菲）

Pinyin: kǎ zhā fēi
English: Gaddafi

Traditional
中國學者稱西方空襲利比亞原因之一是厭惡卡扎菲

Simplified
中国学者称西方空袭利比亚原因之一是厌恶卡扎菲

Pinyin
zhōngguó xuézhě chēng xīfāng kōngxí lìbǐyǎ yuányīn zhīyī shì yànwù kǎzhāfēi

English
Chinese scholars stated that one of the reasons for the West’s air attack on Libya is hate for Gaddafi

Example Source

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