My One Friend
Here’s a little trip down grammar lane, trying to get to the bottom of how the English word “one” can be translated so many different ways in Chinese.
It might surprise you how the Chinese say:
1. “one of my friends”
My first impulse was, of course, a sort of word-for-word translation:
yí gè wǒ de péngyou *WRONG*
This is better:
1. wǒ de yí gè péngyou 我的一个朋友
Which is literally “My one friend.”
So what if you want to say:
2. “He’s my one friend” OR “He’s my only friend”
Here’s where you employ a new word (immortalized in Wáng Lìhóng’s 王力宏 famous song):
2. Tā shì wǒ wéiyī de péngyou. 他是我唯一的朋友.
If you still want to use the number and measure word, you could also say:
2. Wǒ zhǐyǒu tā yí gè péngyou 我只有他一个朋友
So now what about if I want to say:
3. “He’s one of my best students.”
There are three common ways to translate that (click the hanzi for a literal breakdown of what each word means):
3. Tā shì wǒ zuì hǎo xuéshēng zhīyī. 他是我最好学生之一.
Tā shì wǒ zuì hǎo xuéshēng lǐmiàn de yí gè. 他是我最好学生里面的一个.
Tā shì wǒ zuì hǎo xuéshēng (zhī)zhōng de yí gè. 他是我最好学生(之)中的一个.
That’s the same grammar you would use if you wanted to say:
4. “I need one of you to help me.”
Except, my informant said the “zhīyī” 之一 construction would sound weird here, which only leaves:
4. Wǒ xūyào nǐmen lǐmiàn de yí gè lái bāng wǒ. 我需要你们里面的一个来帮我.
Wǒ xūyào nǐmen (zhī)zhōng de yí gè lái bāng wǒ. 我需要你们(之)中的一个来帮我.
And now the grand finale:
5. He’s one of the only foreign teachers who can speak Chinese.
That “one of the only who can” I was told is best translated as “among the minority who can.” For example, one possible translation would be:
5. Tā shì shǎoshù huì shuō zhōngwén de wàijiào zhōng de yí gè 他是少数会说中文的外教中的一个.
What a complex sentence, eh? Anyone know of any other ways to say that? Please help.
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11 Responses to “My One Friend”
Randy Alexander said:
5. 外教当中只有他会说中文.
Comment date: May 28, 2010
Jeannie
said:
5. should be
He’s one of the only foreign teachers who can speak “Chinese”.
外交 should be 外教.
Comment date: May 29, 2010
AcidFlask
said:
Randy: your sentence would translate back to “Of the foreign teachers, only he speaks Chinese.”
Comment date: May 29, 2010
AcidFlask
said:
Though I would agree that your version sounds much more natural.
Comment date: May 29, 2010
Albert
said:
Jeannie (and Randy via email),
Thanks for the typo corrections!
Comment date: May 29, 2010
Jeannie
said:
You are welcome!! ^_^
Comment date: May 29, 2010
Ana
said:
只有少数外教会说中文,他是其中一个.
Comment date: Jun 3, 2010
Andong
said:
Nice summary!
As for number 5: My guess is that this falls under the “中国人不怎么说”-category. Sometimes, even though there is a way to translate a certain phrase correctly, the result is simply too “mafan”. I just asked two native-speaking Chinese friends, and they both (independently) suggested 会说中文的外教很少，他是其中一个。
Comment date: Jun 7, 2010
deany
said:
Ta shi wei yi hui shuo zhong wen de wai (yu) jiao (shi) ???
Is it correct??
Just my opinion, taken from the above (the 1st) example.
Comment date: Jun 11, 2010
Kieu El
said:
”He’s one of the only foreign teachers who can speak Chinese”: How does 他是少数会说汉语的外教之一 work?
Comment date: Sep 10, 2010
Maria
said:
thanks for the in-depth explanation!
one of the biggest difficulties i face when learning chinese would be the reverse structure they use to define something, as in the “one” case you explained. Anyway, now i seem to understand this better. Better keep it down before i forget it again lol
Comment date: Nov 27, 2010