how to say 'one of ---' eg. one of my friends....

[rezaf]

How about this one on the third page? 很多想法到实施的时候会遇到很多问题和困难，我一个人的力量有限，需要你可以帮我一起，圆孩子的梦。

Edit: I don't think you are right about the future thing because all of them can happen any time in the future. And when you say "I need one of you to help me" there is no exact time limit for it. You might need that help in a year or in 10 seconds.

Edit 2: And as there is no tense in Chinese my first sentence can also be something in the past in the right context.

[creamyhorror]

我一个人的力量有限，需要你可以帮我一起，圆孩子的梦。

Now we're getting closer. This sentence does indeed read a bit oddly to me. "I need you [to be able] to help me fulfill children's dreams together." I would prefer it to be 希望 instead of 需要. What do other people think?

Also, there's another example on your search link, apparently from a game:

「我對這種狀況感到很困擾，需要你可以幫我清除掉一些位在翡翠樹海北邊、朱沙水岸上的岩螺巨蟹。」 「希望這樣一來，可以讓我的捕撈作業順利一點哪。」

Also seems a bit strange to me.

Edit: I don't think you are right about the future thing because all of them can happen any time in the future. And when you say "I need one of you to help me" there is no exact time limit for it. You might need that help in a year or in 10 seconds.

If we discard the "ability" interpretation (which applies to other cases but not really this one), then I guess when I look at "我需要你可以帮我", I see a contradiction between the 需要 and 可以, because the former is a requirement and the second a request. It's like someone tried to combine 我需要你帮我 "I need you to help me" with 我[希望]你可以帮我 "I [hope] you can help me".

vvvv Heheh, native speakers being quite quiet on this thread (kenny )

[rezaf]

I think we need a few native speakers to confirm. Anyway yesterday I wanted to use 希望 but changed it to 需要 because of the English sentence. ;)

[Kenny同志]

@Rezaf

之一 should be avoided where possible because 1) it is inappropriate in certain contexts, for example, the one we have in question; and 2) it is not necessary.

“他是我的朋友之一”

People use this structure because they want to ensure accuracy, i.e. I have MORE THAN ONE friends, but this sentence sounds odd and weird to me, and to most native speakers as well I bet. So when you want to express the same thing, simply say 他是我（的）一个朋友; nobody would question the fact that you have more than one friends.

However, 中国是四大文明古国之一 is perfectly justified.

@WestTexas

What exactly is the difference in meaning between 他是我的朋友 and 他是我的一个朋友?

They are almost the same. The former one translates into ‘he’s my friend’ and the later ‘he’s one of my friends’.

@Creamy

I need you to be able to help me.

我需要你可以帮我。

This is sort of awkward and rarely said by native speakers. Usually we simply say 我想请你帮个忙 or 我需要你帮个忙. Of course, the meanings are different from "I need you to be able to help me".

Perhaps you could consider

我不仅需要你帮我，而且需要你帮得上我。

I need someone to be able to help me.

我需要一个能帮得上忙的人。

希望你可以帮我一起圆孩子的梦 is perfect.

需要你可以帮我一起圆孩子的梦 is wrong.

[Meng Lelan]

nobody would question the fact that you have more than one friends.

;)

changed it to 需要

mmmmmm....that word I tend to avoid because it seems to have an imperative demanding feel to it unless I'm trying to get someone to follow some directive that they need to be following.

[creamyhorror]

This is sort of awkward and rarely said by native speakers. Usually we simply say 我想请你帮个忙 or 我需要你帮个忙. Of course, the meanings are different.

Perhaps you could consider

我不仅需要你帮我，而且需要你帮得上我。

I need someone to be able to help me.

我需要一个能帮得上忙的人。

希望你可以帮我一起圆孩子的梦 is perfect.

需要你可以帮我一起圆孩子的梦 is wrong.

Thank you kenny. 我需要你可以帮我 was awkward to me and I was trying to interpret it in a logical (but strained) way. Good to have your specific examples. Only 我需要你帮我 sounds correct to me, as I've been saying throughout the thread.

Thanks for confirming 需要...可以 is wrong in this context.

[rezaf]

I just posted the question on another website and got these answers:

1-

用“需要”在语法上没有错，只是语气上有一种“霸道”的感觉，就好像皇帝在命令大臣一样，用“希望”的话，就显得很有礼貌~

2-

这个句子是正确的。只是在使用时要注意说话时的场合，情景。当你迫切需要从他人那里得到帮助时可使用此种说法，“需要”是一种很直白的表达，委婉一些便可用“希望”，表达你的某种愿望。

3-

说下我自己的观点：我读这个句子的时候，就觉得“需要”“可以”不太搭配，不过我说不清楚。。。

我觉得可以这样改：

1.我希望你们中有一个人可以帮助我

2.我需要你们中有一个人来帮助我

I think native speakers have mixed views about it but to be on the safe side I won't use it again. :rolleyes:

[creamyhorror]

Why don't you ask them if "我需要你可以帮我" is right? Two of the answers don't mention "可以", so I'm wondering if they aren't being very critical w.r.t. grammar, but that's just me.

The problem is, as the third answer says, that “需要”“可以”不太搭配.

[rezaf]

OK tomorrow I will ask another question and emphasize more on 需要 and 可以, but I think it will be mixed views again as it depends on how someone psychologically interprets the sentence.

[rezaf]

anyway you just asked it ;)

edit: "我需要你可以帮我" sounds very wrong but I don't think that it is relevant to the first sentence because here you are not using an indefinite pronoun.

[rezaf]

I think my first sentence is right because I used an indefinite pronoun. If this logic is true then as you said 我需要你可以帮我 would be wrong but 我需要有人可以帮我 would be right.

Have a look at this baidu link . I think it clears up the problem.

[歐博思]

Kenny could you clarify what contexts 之一 should be used in?

Additionally, I understand the addition of 一个 such as 我的一个朋友 as "one of my friends", but I have another confusion. I have seen 一个 added on to the end of a phrase in the same way as 之一 akin to your example 中国是四大文明古国之一 but 之一 changed to 一个, that sort of thing. Up until now I feel like I pick 一个 or 之一 and if I pick 一个 then I randomly place it before the noun like "one of my friends" example from above or move it to the end such as a 之一.

[马盖云]

This question reminds me of a question I had been meaning to ask, and while similar, has a little different feeling...

How would you say "among" to indicate an item's belonging to a group like:

"Steely Dan is among my favorite groups" or "he is among the top 10% of students", etc.

It feels a little different than "one of" that is being discussed. Not wanting to single-out any particular item on the list, but still pointing out that the item is on the 'short list'

;)

[creamyhorror]

Additionally, I understand the addition of 一个 such as 我的一个朋友 as "one of my friends", but I have another confusion. I have seen 一个 added on to the end of a phrase in the same way as 之一 akin to your example 中国是四大文明古国之一 but 之一 changed to 一个, that sort of thing. Up until now I feel like I pick 一个 or 之一 and if I pick 一个 then I randomly place it before the noun like "one of my friends" example from above or move it to the end such as a 之一.

中国是四大文明古国之一 = 中国是四大文明古国（其中)的一个

but you can't say 中国是一个四大文明古国

"Steely Dan is among my favorite groups" or "he is among the top 10% of students", etc.

Steely Dan是我最喜欢的乐团（其中)的一个 / Steely Dan是我最喜欢的乐团之一

Strangely I can't find evidence for (其中)的一个 on google. Yet it seems so natural to me. (Also, I'm more used to 的其中一个, but google seems to show that's used a bit differently...)

[歐博思]

I have also seen the "among" of 其中 phrased as 里面. Also, I have seen just a 中 or just a 间 by itself added to various phrases to convey the meaning of "among". 哎, which to pick?? :o

[imron]

Among all these different words with the same meaning, which one should I choose?

Between all these different words with the same meaning, which one should I choose?

Out of all of these different words with the same meaning, which one should I choose?

Given all of these different words with the same meaning, which one should I choose?

Languages often have more than one way to express the same concept. Sometimes there's no single right or wrong answer for a given situation, and what word you choose comes down to personal preference and style.

[Kenny同志]

Kenny could you clarify what contexts 之一 should be used in?

Additionally, I understand the addition of 一个 such as 我的一个朋友 as "one of my friends", but I have another confusion. I have seen 一个 added on to the end of a phrase in the same way as 之一 akin to your example 中国是四大文明古国之一 but 之一 changed to 一个, that sort of thing. Up until now I feel like I pick 一个 or 之一 and if I pick 一个 then I randomly place it before the noun like "one of my friends" example from above or move it to the end such as a 之一.

There’s not a hard-and-fast rule about the use of 之一. To be on the safe side, avoid it where possible unless you can make sure it will read or sound well to native speakers （I advise people to avoid it because many people are not able to use it nicely, even native speakers）.

中国是四大文明古国之一=中国是四大文明古国里的一个, however, the latter is much less formal.

You can also say 中国是一个文明古国。

"Steely Dan is among my favorite groups" or "he is among the top 10% of students", etc.

我最喜欢的groups里面有Steely Dan.

Steely Dan是我很喜欢的一个group

他的成绩在班上（年级）排在前XX名内。

[rezaf]

@creamyhorror: I asked 4 more native speakers and they all said "我需要你们中有一个人可以帮助我。“ is correct and when I mentioned "我需要你可以帮我" and "我需要有人可以帮我" they all agreed that the second one is correct. 3 of them said the first one is wrong, but one of them said even the first one is correct but not very common.

[creamyhorror]

@rezaf: Interesting. Thanks for checking further. It still sounds strange to me, but it depends on place/style of Chinese I guess. And even on italki 需要你们中有一个人可以帮助我 sounded weird to one of them.

Aha, check out this comment from italki:

Language Learner wrote: 严格地说，" 我需要你们中有一个人可以帮助我" 这个句子确实是错了，正确的说法是：1. || 我需要你们当中的一个人（来）帮助我||。 2. || 我希望你们当中有一个人可以帮助我|| 或者 || 我希望你们当中有一个人（来）帮助我 ||。但是近些年来随着语文教育水平的总体下滑，许多不规范的句子不仅出现在普通人口中，而且常常出现在省市乃至中央的报纸、电视上；例如 “...近30多吨”这种非驴非马的表达常常堂而皇之地出现在报纸上，是在是咄咄怪事，但是人们似乎已经见怪不怪了，似乎它已经成了一种可以接受的表达方式。相信若干年后，会有一次适当的规范化运动。

I'm inclined to agree with this person

[Glenn]

So what would a better way to say ...近30多吨 be?