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

[Kenny同志]

Either say 近30吨, or 30 多吨。

[Kenny同志]

The phrasing of 近三十多吨 doesn't make sense neither in Chinese nor in English because in English it reads "about more than thirty tons", which is foolish.

[rezaf]

@creamy: I guess I have heard this kind of sentence a lot which is why it sounds natural to me but probably it's just a new thing in spoken Chinese.

@Kenny: What do you think about sentences with "...需要有人可以..."?

[Kenny同志]

I think I've heard it said a few times but not frequently. Why not say 需要有人...? Such phrasing like 需要可以 might be from English.

需要有人可以站出来说出真相。

需要有人站出来说出真相。

The second sentence sounds much better to me than the first one.

As you mentioned earlier, native speakers might have mixed views about 需要某某可以. Even if it is not wrong, however, I don't think it's good Chinese.

[rezaf]

Probably there is no definite answer but because of the mixed views I am convinced that it's not something Chinese learners should use.

[Glenn]

The phrasing of 近三十多吨 doesn't make sense neither in Chinese nor in English because in English it reads "about more than thirty tons", which is foolish.

Indeed it doesn't. I think my reading comprehension was just barely hanging on by the time I got to that part, hence the question. Thanks for the answer, though!

[Kenny同志]

What people (native speakers)mean by 近三十多吨 is actualy 三十多吨, so there's no need for 近.

近三十吨 (slightly less than or close to thirty tons) is different from 三十多吨 (more than thirty tons)in meaning.

When 近 (slightly less than or close to) or 约(about, around, in the neighbourhood of) is used to indicate an approximate number/size/amount etc., they must be followed by a definite number.

近 （see the last entry）=将近

edited upon Imron's post.

[imron]

Would it be correct that 近 can only be used to mean less than the amount? If so, then it's slightly different from "around" or "in the neighbourhood of", which can both refer to a number either greater or less than the amount specified.

[imron]

close to thirty tons

'Almost' is another good word in this situation.

[Kenny同志]

Thanks.

[renshanrenhai]

From a native speaker's view, "one of ..." is not very common in Chinese utterance, and if we translate it literally into "其中之一" it will sounds not natural in Chinese. So in Chinese "he is one of my friends" can be put as "他是我的一个朋友。"I need one of you to help me." will be "我需要一个人来(to)帮助我。"

"This is one of your best ideas yet." is equal to "这是你最好的一个想法/主意。"

[creamyhorror]

Thanks for the confirmation, kenny, and it's been a good discussion, rezaf. It's gotten me looking at italki, too, heh.

[rezaf]

, and it's been a good discussion, rezaf. It's gotten me looking at italki, too, heh.

Yes, it was interesting to find something so controversial, thanks for pointing it out.