HSK 2 · Numbers

第一 dìyī “first” in Chinese

Same in Traditional

What 第一 means

  1. first
  2. number one
  3. most important
  4. primary
  5. foremost

How to say 第一

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale第dì4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the first tone: stays high and level, 5 to 5 on the five-level scale一yī1st tone, high and level

第一 in a sentence

  1. 我记得我们第一次见面。

    Wǒ jìde wǒmen dìyī cì jiànmiàn.

    I remember the first time we met.

    Sentence #9543942 from Tatoeba

  2. 第一印象很重要。

    Dìyī yìnxiàng hěn zhòngyào.

    First impressions matter.

    Sentence #6089949 from Tatoeba

  3. 那是她第一份工作。

    Nà shì tā dìyī fèn gōngzuò.

    That’s her first job.

    Sentence #2771044 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

How 第一 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 第 (dì) with each of its parts in a different colour
第dìgrades in which successful candidates in
  • ⺮bamboo form of 竹 · zhú
  • 弟young brother · dì
The character 一 (yī) drawn as one shape
一yīone

一 is a single shape of 1 stroke. Learn it whole, then watch its stroke order below.

Memory aidOne stroke for one, the way people once counted with rods.

How to write 第一

第 11 strokes · 一 1 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

第一 (dìyī) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 第一 (dìyī). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 第一

Words with 第

第dì · ordinal prefix

Words with 一

一yī · one一半yībàn · half一些yīxiē · some一点儿yìdiǎnr · a little一起yìqǐ · together一下yíxià · (after a verb) briefly一般yìbān · general一定yídìng · surely一共yígòng · altogether一样yíyàng · the same

More words: Numbers & Money

八bā · eight九jiǔ · nine十shí · ten百bǎi · hundred件jiàn · measure word for clothes零líng · zero千qiān · thousand两liǎng · two (of)

FAQs

第一 (dìyī) means “first” or “number one”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it dìyī: dì with a 4th tone, then yī with a 1st tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
Yes. 第一 is written the same way in Simplified and Traditional characters.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type diyi with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 第一 from the suggestions. Typing diyi into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
第一 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

Turn words into conversations

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.