第一 (dìyī) means First. Below are 24 of the 39 sentences on this site that use it — with pinyin, an English translation and audio. All of them were written by hand; none is machine generated.
Dictionary examples
我 第一 个到教室。
Wǒ dìyī gè dào jiàoshì.
I was the first to get to the classroom.
Dictionary example · HSK 2 · 第一
这是我 第一 次来中国。
Zhè shì wǒ dìyī cì lái Zhōngguó.
This is my first time coming to China.
Dictionary example · HSK 2 · 第一
他总是 第一 个到。
Tā zǒngshì dìyī gè dào.
He is always the first to arrive.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 总是
我 第一 次看京剧。
Wǒ dì yī cì kàn jīngjù.
It is my first time watching Beijing opera.
Dictionary example · HSK 4 · 京剧
会上他 第一 个发言。
Huì shàng tā dì yī ge fāyán.
He spoke first at the meeting.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 发言
我 第一 次接触这门课。
Wǒ dì yī cì jiēchù zhè mén kè.
This is my first exposure to this subject.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 接触
第一 次做，出错难免。
Dì yī cì zuò, chū cuò nánmiǎn.
Doing it for the first time, mistakes are hard to avoid.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 难免
这个字的 第一 笔是横。
Zhège zì de dì yī bǐ shì héng.
The first stroke of this character is a horizontal.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 横
这个字的 第一 笔是撇。
Zhège zì de dì yī bǐ shì piě.
The first stroke of this character is a left-falling stroke.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 撇
他 第一 个跑到了终点。
Tā dì yī ge pǎo dào le zhōngdiǎn.
He was the first to reach the finish.
Dictionary example · HSK 6 · 终点
他在比赛中得了 第一 名。
Tā zài bǐsài zhōng dé le dì yī míng.
He got first place in the competition.
Dictionary example · HSK 3 · 比赛
他获得了比赛的 第一 名。
Tā huòdé le bǐsài de dì yī míng.
He won first place in the competition.
Dictionary example · HSK 4 · 获得
这个成语我 第一 次听说。
Zhège chéngyǔ wǒ dì yī cì tīngshuō.
This is the first time I have heard this idiom.
Dictionary example · HSK 5 · 成语
Reading these is one thing; producing 第一 yourself is another. Cloze in Context takes a sentence from this same bank, removes one word and asks you to put it back — beginner, intermediate and advanced.
From the graded readers
第一 天，我连坐上去都做不到。
dìyī tiān, wǒ lián zuò shàngqù dōu zuò bùdào.
On the first day I couldn't even get on it.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · Learning to Ride a Bike
最难的不是 第一 天，而是第十天。
zuì nán de / dì búshì dìyī tiān, érshì dìshí tiān.
The hardest day wasn't the first — it was the tenth.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Keeping Up Running
第一 天，我跑了八分钟就跑不动了。
dìyī tiān, wǒ pǎo le / liǎo / liào bā fēnzhōng jiù pǎo budòng le / liǎo / liào.
On the first day I lasted eight minutes before I couldn't go on.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Keeping Up Running
第一 天，我们住在山下的一个小旅馆。
dìyī tiān, wǒmen zhù zài shān xià de / dì yīgè xiǎo lǚguǎn.
On the first day we stayed in a small hotel at the foot of the mountain.
Graded reader · HSK 2 · A Trip With Friends
上个月，我跑完了人生 第一 个马拉松。
shànggèyuè, wǒ pǎowán le / liǎo / liào rénshēng dìyī gè mǎlāsōng.
Last month I finished the first marathon of my life.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Keeping Up Running
因为我 第一 次觉得，我做的事情是有意义的。
yīnwèi wǒ dìyīcì juéde, wǒ zuò de / dì shìqing shì yǒu yìyì de / dì.
Because for the first time, what I was doing felt like it meant something.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Changing Jobs
我准备了两个星期的稿子， 第一 句话就说反了。
wǒ zhǔnbèi le / liǎo / liào liǎng gè xīngqī de / dì gǎozi, dìyī jù huà jiù shuō fǎn le / liǎo / liào.
I'd prepared the script for two weeks, and I got the very first sentence backwards.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · My First Speech
最难的是 第一 年，我几乎每个月都在担心钱的问题。
zuì nán de / dì shì dìyī nián, wǒ jīhū měi gè yuè dōu zài dānxīn qián de / dì wèntí.
The first year was the hardest — I worried about money almost every month.
Graded reader · HSK 4 · Changing Jobs
第一 次写错了一个字，她觉得不好看，就重新写了一遍。
dìyīcì xiě cuò le / liǎo / liào yīgè zì, tā juéde bùhǎo kàn / kān, jiù chóngxīn xiěle yī biàn.
The first time she'd got one character wrong, thought it looked untidy, and written the whole thing again.
Graded reader · HSK 3 · A Letter From Grandmother
第一 appears in 39 sentences on this site; the 24 shortest and most direct are shown. The rest are on the pages they were written for — the graded readers, the phrasebook and the grammar library.
Questions about 第一
How is 第一 used in a sentence?
This page shows 39 sentences using 第一 (dìyī, "First"), each with pinyin, an English translation and audio. Every one of them was written by hand for this site.
Are these sentences machine generated?
No. They come from the site's own dictionary examples, graded readers, travel phrasebook and grammar library — all written by a person. A word with no sentence gets no page here, rather than a page of invented ones.
Is 第一 an HSK word?
Yes — 第一 is on the official HSK 2 vocabulary list, and you can study it with the rest of that list on the HSK 2 page.
Where can I see the full entry for 第一?
The dictionary page for 第一 has its stroke order, its traditional form, every sense the dictionary lists and a character-by-character breakdown. It is linked at the top of this page.
Keep going
Read the full entry for 第一, write a sentence of your own and check it in the Pinyin Annotator, drill it with HSK 2 flashcards, or search the whole sentence bank for another word.
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