Cardinal and ordinal numbers
Cardinal numbers count (one, two, three). Ordinal numbers show position or order (first, second, third).
| Number | Ordinal | Short |
|---|
| 1 | first | 1st |
| 2 | second | 2nd |
| 3 | third | 3rd |
| 4–20 | number + -th (fourth, sixth, tenth) | 4th, 6th, 10th |
| 5 | fifth (ve → f) | 5th |
| 8 | eighth | 8th |
| 9 | ninth (drops e) | 9th |
| 12 | twelfth | 12th |
| 20, 30… | -y → -ieth (twentieth, thirtieth) | 20th, 30th |
| 21, 22, 23 | twenty-first, twenty-second, twenty-third | 21st, 22nd, 23rd |
Use
- Dates: my birthday is on the 5th of May (May the fifth).
- Order / position: She finished first. He lives on the third floor.
- Centuries: the twenty-first century.
Watch out
- Only the last number becomes ordinal: twenty-first, thirty-fifth.
- 11th, 12th, 13th end in -th (not 11st, 12nd, 13rd).
En español
Los ordinales indican posición: first, second, third, fourth… Se escriben 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. Solo el último número cambia (twenty-first). Se usan en fechas y pisos.
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