第一課

[Thiago Brazil]

I know that 第 is used for ordinal numbers.

 

Example: 第一課

 

But, when I want to say "Now we will study the first lesson," can I say "現在我們學習一課" or with 第 in "現在我們學習第一課"?

 

Please, if possible, you can help me with translation because I think that should have "will" in Chinese, but I don't know how use "will" or only ""現在我們學習第一課" it's correct?

[Flickserve]

我們現在學習第一課 so still use the 第.

If you were to use 一節課, that would mean any of the lessons, say from a book.

For the English translation, perhaps - "We are going to study the first lesson now" is a better translation.

[Thiago Brazil]

Dear Flick, thanks!

 

Friend, 第一課 can be translated "lesson one" or only "first lesson"?

 

A example: 我們現在學習第三十課. Here, 第三十課 can be translated "thirty lesson" or should translated only "thirtieth lesson"? 

[curry]

I would translate 第三十課 most naturally as "lesson thirty," but "the thirtieth lesson" is also OK. Likewise, both "lesson one" and "the first lesson" are acceptable for 第一課, though I would prefer "lesson one."

[Vildhjerp]

You might want to drop the 习 from “现在我们学习第一课”.

 

I‘m pretty sure that when 学 is taking an indirect object, such as 第一课, the 习 is left out.（现在我们学第一课）

The 习 is only kept when the 学 doesn't take an indirect object.（现在我们学习）

 

For example, if you wanted to tell your Chinese buddy "Hey, let's start studying" and you said, “现在我们学”, he would most likely stare back at you for awhile, waiting for you to finish your sentence. In order to bring the clause to an end, 学 needs to be followed by either an indirect object or a 习 if there is none.

 

This is similar to how you can say “我吃饭” and “我吃苹果”, but not “我吃” or “我吃饭苹果”.

 

Edit: This is incorrect.

[curry]

Vildhjerp,

The difference between your comparison of 吃飯 and 學習 is that 吃飯 is a verb+object combination, while 學習 is just a verb.

I agree that it sounds weird to end a sentence just with 學 without the 習 or an object, but 學習 can take an object after it.

In your the case of 現在我們學習，the 習 is needed because 學 takes no object, just as you can say 我喜歡學習，我喜歡學東西，and 我喜歡學習中文, but just saying 我喜歡學 sounds unfinished.

Therefore, both 現在我們學習第一課 and 現在我們學第一課 are correct.

Maybe a grammar expert can weigh in on this.

[Vildhjerp]

I was always somewhat unsure about that 习, because a Chinese friend told me it could stay and a Chinese teacher told me it had to go. I guess I subconsciously sided with my teacher on this one.

 

But I'll take your word for it, curry. I appreciate the clarification!

[zhou]

In my country, we always say"现在我们学习第一课", almost no one says"现在我们学第一课", they are same meaning, but if you say"现在我们学第一课",we will feel a little bit weird.