Question
Updated on
26 Sep 2022
- Simplified Chinese (China)
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English (US)
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Korean
Question about English (US)
Which sounds more natural?
1. Last year, I was ranked first in my age group.
2. Last year, I ranked first in my age group.
Which sounds more natural?
1. Last year, I was ranked first in my age group.
2. Last year, I ranked first in my age group.
1. Last year, I was ranked first in my age group.
2. Last year, I ranked first in my age group.
Answers
26 Sep 2022
Featured answer
- English (US)
@handsomeish When talking about rank as far as where you placed in a competition, we leave “the” out.
I got/won first place.
“I won the first prize” is correct and natural, but might be interpreted as:
There were multiple prizes that were given away (maybe in some kind of sweepstakes). I won the prize that they gave out first.
There was no competition here. You were just lucky enough to be the first person to receive a prize.
If you are talking about some sort of competition, then you should omit “the” again.
I won first prize.
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- English (US)
They’re both natural but have slightly different meanings. Sentence 1 means someone else ranked you as number 1. Sentence 2 means you achieved the rank of number 1 on your own in some way.
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
- English (US)
@handsomeish Usually, people just say “I won the game”, but I don’t think your sentence is completely unnatural.
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Ok. What about these sentences? Do they sound natural?
1. I got the first place.
2. I won the first prize.
1. I got the first place.
2. I won the first prize.
- English (US)
@handsomeish When talking about rank as far as where you placed in a competition, we leave “the” out.
I got/won first place.
“I won the first prize” is correct and natural, but might be interpreted as:
There were multiple prizes that were given away (maybe in some kind of sweepstakes). I won the prize that they gave out first.
There was no competition here. You were just lucky enough to be the first person to receive a prize.
If you are talking about some sort of competition, then you should omit “the” again.
I won first prize.
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
@bsloan7 Alright. That’s so informative! So how would you understand “I won first prize” (without “the”)?
- English (US)
@handsomeish You participated in some sort of competition and were ranked the highest.
It’s kind of hard to explain the difference between “I got first place” and “I won first prize” because they basically mean the same thing. But you normally hear them used in different situations.
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
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