dìyī wèi péngyou xiǎng chī niúròu.

to eat

Breakdown of dìyī wèi péngyou xiǎng chī niúròu.

• 朋友péngyou: friend
• 想xiǎng: to want to
• 位wèi: polite person classifier

Questions & Answers about dìyī wèi péngyou xiǎng chī niúròu.

What does 第一位朋友 mean exactly?

It means the first friend or the first person/friend in a sequence.

It breaks down like this:

• 第 = marks an ordinal number, like first / second / third
• 一 = one
• 位 = a measure word for people
• 朋友 = friend

So the structure is:

第 + number + measure word + noun

In this sentence, 第一位朋友 is the subject: the first friend.

Why is 第 used here?

第 is how Mandarin turns a number into an ordinal number.

Compare:

• 一位朋友 = one friend
• 第一位朋友 = the first friend

So 第 is what changes one into first.

Why is 位 used before 朋友?

位 is a measure word for people. In Mandarin, when you use a number with a noun, you usually need a measure word in between.

So you get:

• 一位朋友
• 第一位朋友

For people, 位 is polite and respectful. That is why it is used here.