队里的 vs. 队里

[Thomill]

Hello,

I am working my way through the second level of Rosetta Stone. In Unit 1, Section 2, I see the following examples:

队里的第一个人很高。

队里第二个人的头发是金色的。

队里第三个人的头发是黑色的。

队里的第四个人很渴。

Why is the 的 not carried through after 队里 in the middle two sentences?

Thank you.

[马盖云]

Often, when there is a string of adjectives or attributives that would normally be connected with 的's, the earlier ones can be dropped, and just the last one left in. In your case, the first one uses an adectival verb (to be tall) so the fact that he belongs to the team is the only 的。In the second, two, the last 的 is referring to his hair. So only that one gets the 的.

I think :huh: