……之一
Reach for this whenever you'd say 'one of the [most X / biggest / oldest] ___' in English. 之一 sits at the END of a noun phrase to mark that the thing you just described is a member of a larger set — usually a flattering one (one of the top, one of the most famous, one of the few). It's slightly formal, very common in news, intros, and bios.
Structure
[NOUN PHRASE] 之一
...zhī yī
How to Think About It
之一 goes at the END, after the whole description, not where 'one of' sits in English. English front-loads — 'one of the most famous universities.' Chinese tail-loads — '最著名的大学之一' (the most-famous-university-one-of). Get the order wrong and the sentence collapses. Also: the noun phrase before 之一 almost always contains 最 or another superlative, because there's no point flagging 'one of many ordinary things.'
Examples
北京是中国最大的城市之一。
Běijīng shì Zhōngguó zuì dà de chéngshì zhī yī.
Beijing is one of the largest cities in China.
他是公司里最重要的员工之一。
Tā shì gōngsī lǐ zuì zhòngyào de yuángōng zhī yī.
He's one of the most important employees in the company.
这是我读过最好的小说之一。
Zhè shì wǒ dú guò zuì hǎo de xiǎoshuō zhī yī.
This is one of the best novels I've ever read.
Common Mistake
Learners translate 'one of' literally and put 一 or 一个 at the front, then forget 之一 at the end. The Chinese pattern only needs 之一 — the front '一个' is wrong and doubles up the meaning.
他是一个最好的老师。
他是最好的老师之一。
Don't Confuse With
其中之一
Used when the set was just mentioned ('among them, one is...'). 之一 by itself names the set inside the phrase: '十大城市之一' (one of the top ten cities) vs. '他是其中之一' (he's one of them).
其中一个
More colloquial and less formal than 之一. Use 其中一个 in speech when you don't need the elevated register: '我最喜欢的电影其中一个是...' vs. '...是我最喜欢的电影之一'.
之首
Means THE top one, not one of the top. 'A is 名校之一' = one of the famous schools. 'A is 名校之首' = THE top of the famous schools.
Practice
她是我们班最聪明的学生 ___。
Show answer
之一
这家餐厅是城里 ___ 有名的餐厅之一。
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最
Put in order: [他 / 之一 / 最 / 是 / 演员 / 红 / 的]
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他是最红的演员之一。
Translate to Chinese: 'This is one of the most beautiful parks in the city.'
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这是城里最美的公园之一。
Write one sentence describing a person, place, or thing you admire, using ……之一.
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Example answer: 上海是亚洲最国际化的城市之一。 (Shanghai is one of the most international cities in Asia.)
Hear It in Real Episodes
This pattern appears in 2 Fluentide episodes: