How to Say "One Of" in Chinese

之一

zhīyī

The Chinese phrase for 'one of' is 之一 (zhīyī).

之一 is used to identify a single person or thing from a larger group.

What does it mean word for word?

The expression consists of two parts: 之, which acts as a formal possessive particle meaning 'of' or '-s' and 一, which means 'one'.

In Chinese, 之一 is placed at the end of the noun phrase it modifies, rather than before it.

zhīyī

English speakers often mistakenly place 之一 before the noun, such as saying 之一我的朋友 instead of placing it after the noun phrase like 我的朋友之一.

While 之一 is the standard way to say 'one of', in casual conversation, speakers often use 其中一个 to avoid the formal tone of 之.
The particle 之 in 之一 is a relic of Classical Chinese, making the phrase feel more elegant and literary than everyday spoken Chinese.
The character 一 is one of the few characters in Chinese that can change its tone depending on the words around it, though it remains stable in the fixed phrase 之一.

他是我的朋友之一。
He's one of my friends.
This sentence shows how to use 之一 to identify a person within a group of friends.
Tatoeba #9478788 by jin1, translation #10534800 by sundown
湯姆是瑪莉的前夫之一。
Tom is one of Mary's ex-husbands.
This sentence shows how to use 之一 to identify one person from a group of ex-husbands.
Tatoeba #12166191 by corina, translation #5298935 by CK
琳达是大会的参赛者之一。
Linda is one of the contestants in the pageant.
This sentence shows how to use 之一 to identify one person from a group of contestants.
Tatoeba #5550041 by verdastelo9604, translation #3949994 by Amastan
此书是他们研究的经典之一。
This book is one of their research classics.
这个菜单里面有我最喜欢的一种食物。
This menu has one of my favorite dishes.
那位球员是他们队伍之中最出色的一员。
That player is one of the most outstanding in their team.
74 more sentences on Tatoeba

Yuting and Zhiqiang are discussing their favorite books.

雨婷 Yuting

这本书是我最喜欢的书之一。
Zhè běn shū shì wǒ zuì xǐhuān de shū zhī yī.
This book is one of my favorites.
志强 Zhiqiang

我也听过这本书，很有名。
Wǒ yě tīngguò zhè běn shū, hěn yǒumíng.
I've heard of this book too, it's very famous.
雨婷 Yuting

它是今年最好的小说之一。
Tā shì jīnnián zuì hǎo de xiǎoshuō zhī yī.
It is one of the best novels of this year.
志强 Zhiqiang

那我以后也读读看。
Nà wǒ yǐhòu yě dúdu kàn.
Then I will try reading it later.

Sources

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