1
a finalist in [competition]
She was a finalist in the national chess tournament.
她是全国国际象棋锦标赛的决赛选手。
决赛选手；决赛队
finalists — plural of finalist
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
决赛选手；决赛队
a contestant who reaches the final stages of a competition
She was a finalist in the national chess tournament.
她是全国国际象棋锦标赛的决赛选手。
进入比赛最后阶段的人或事物。
Somebody or something that appears in the final stage of a competition.
大学最后一年(毕业班)的学生；大四学生。
A university student in their final year of study; a senior.
参加期末考试期间的大学生(不论是否在最后一年)。
A university student during the period of sitting their final examinations (whether or not in their final year of study).
She was one of the ten finalists in the school spelling competition.
她是学校拼写比赛十名决赛选手之一。
After winning the semifinal, he became a finalist for the first time.
赢得半决赛后，他第一次成为决赛选手。
The finalists will compete for the championship next Saturday.
决赛选手们将于下周六争夺冠军。
She was a finalist in the national chess tournament.
她是全国国际象棋锦标赛的决赛选手。
finalist 既可指个人，也可指团队或作品。
The film is a finalist for the Best Director award.
这部电影是最佳导演奖的入围者。
Our school was among the finalists in the debate competition.
我们学校是辩论比赛的决赛队伍之一。
Not this
The two finalist are from China.
Use this
The two finalists are from China.
finalist 是可数名词，复数需加 -s。汉语名词没有复数变化，导致学习者漏掉词尾，因此 two finalist 应改为 two finalists。
Not this
He is finalist in the singing contest.
Use this
He is a finalist in the singing contest.
finalist 是单数可数名词，前面必须有冠词 a/an。汉语没有冠词，学习者常在 is 后漏掉 a，应补上：He is a finalist.
Not this
She is a finalist of the tennis tournament.
Use this
She is a finalist in the tennis tournament.
表示“某场比赛的决赛选手”时，英文用 in 引出比赛或活动，不能用 of 直译汉语的“的”。in 表示“在……中”，故应说 a finalist in the tennis tournament。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
某场比赛的决赛选手
She was a finalist in the national spelling bee.
她是全国拼字比赛的决赛选手。
某奖项的入围者
The film is a finalist for Best Picture.
这部电影入围了最佳影片奖。
成为决赛选手
He became a finalist after winning the semifinal.
他赢得半决赛后成为了决赛选手。
被宣布为决赛选手
The team was named a finalist for the championship.
该队被宣布为锦标赛决赛队。
两位决赛选手
The two finalists will meet again in the final.
两位决赛选手将在决赛中再次交锋。
Use finalists naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
final(决赛) + -ist(人)，想象选手一路杀进总决赛(finals)的赛场上，等待最后一搏。
语域：neutral 常见场景：比赛报道、颁奖典礼 通常用于比赛或评选场合，指进入最后阶段的选手或队伍，既可用于书面报道也可用于日常口语。
Loyalist and royalist rhyme with each other (both stressed /ɔɪ/). Nationalist and naturalist are spelling lookalikes but sound different (/ˈnæʃnəlɪst/ vs /ˈnætʃərəlɪst/). None of these words rhymes with finalist /ˈfaɪnəlɪst/ because its stressed vowel is /aɪ/, not matched here.
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.