A Chinese Teacher Tell you How to Address the Number One in Chinese

As a mandarin teacher, in this Chinese class, I will mainly talk about how to express the number one differently in Chinese.

Generally speaking, the number one is equivalent to “第一名(di4 yi1 ming2)”. Where there is a competition, there is the “第一名(di4 yi1 ming2)”, “第二名(di4 er4 ming2)” and so on.

However, in Chinese, different competitions or different activities may have the different ways to express “第一名”. There are some frequently-used ones for you.

“冠军(guan4 jun1)” is the most common one. It is also used in western countries which means champion in English.

“状元(zhuang4 yuan2)” is a more Chinese-characteristic phrase, which can date back to the “科举考试(ke1 ju3 kao3 shi4), an imperial competitive examination in ancient China”. Now, it is also used in our “高考(gao1 kao3), college entrance examination”. We usually say “文科状元(wen2 ke1 zhuang4 yuan2)” or “理科状元(li3 ke1 zhuang4 yuan2)”,which refer to “the number one scholar in literary art and the number one scholar in science art” accordingly.

If you ask your Chinese teacher what the difference between “状元” and “冠军”, it might be difficult to answer it. You just need to know the common collocation of these two phrases.

There is a more literary phrase with the similar meaning that is “桂冠”. For example, Tom’s Chinese tutor “在教师比武大赛中夺得桂冠(zai4 jiao4 shi1 bi3 wu3 da4 sai4 zhong1 duo2 de2 gui4 guan4)”. “桂冠” means laurel, the emblem of victory or distinction.

To know more knowledge about Chinese phrases, you can search our website and there are many Chinese teachers waiting for you online. 

source: http://smile1xia.jigsy.com/entries/education/a-chinese-teacher-tell-you-how-to-address-the-number-one-in-chinese