Remember It
You should already be able to count up to 1000 in English. The ordinary (cardinal / counting) numbers were covered in Lessons 5, 15 and 20.
Learn
Ordinal Numbers
Cardinal numbers express quantity: two (2), thirty-five (35) etc...
Ordinal numbers indicate order or rank: first (1st), second (2nd), third (3rd) etc...
The definite article "the" normally goes in front of an ordinal number: e.g. "Queen Elizabeth the second."
For most ordinal numbers, the ending '-th' is used, with one or two exceptions for those inevitable irregular numbers:-
|
CARDINAL NUMERAL
|
IN WORDS
|
ORDINAL NUMERAL
|
IN WORDS
|
|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
one
|
1st
|
the first
|
|
2
|
two
|
2nd
|
the second
|
|
3
|
three
|
3rd
|
the third
|
|
4
|
four
|
4th
|
the fourth
|
|
5
|
five
|
5th
|
the fifth
|
|
6
|
six
|
6th
|
the sixth
|
|
7
|
seven
|
7th
|
the seventh
|
|
8
|
eight
|
8th
|
the eighth
|
|
9
|
nine
|
9th
|
the ninth
|
|
10
|
ten
|
10th
|
the tenth
|
Learn your ordinal numbers (requires Real Player Basic )
Ordinal numbers 1 to 19
| In figures | In words |  Pronounce
It |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | the first | 1st |
| 2nd | the second | 2nd |
| 3rd | the third | 3rd |
| 4th | the fourth | 4th |
| 5th | the fifth | 5th |
| 6th | the sixth | 6th |
| 7th | the seventh | 7th |
| 8th | the eighth | 8th |
| 9th | the ninth | 9th |
| 10th | the tenth | 10th |
| 11th | the eleventh | 11th |
| 12th | the twelfth | 12th |
| 13th | the thirteenth | 13th |
| 14th | the fourteenth | 14th |
| 15th | the fifteenth | 15th |
| 16th | the sixteenth | 16th |
| 17th | the seventeenth | 17th |
| 18th | the eighteenth | 18th |
| 19th | the nineteenth | 19th |
Ordinal numbers such as 21st, 33rd etc are formed by combining a CARDINAL ten with an ORDINAL unit.
The "y" of "twenty", "thirty", "forty", etc. is changed to "ieth":-
| In figures | In words | Pronounce
It |
|---|---|---|
| 20th | the twentieth | 20th |
| 21st | the twenty-first | |
| 22nd | the twenty-second | ... |
| 23rd | the twenty-third | ... |
| 24th | the twenty-fourth | ... |
| 25th | the twenty-fifth | ... |
| 26th | the twenty-sixth | ... |
| 27th | the twenty-seventh | ... |
| 28th | the twenty-eighth | ... |
| 29th | the twenty-ninth | ... |
| 30th | the thirtieth | 30th |
| 40th | the fortieth | 40th |
| 50th | the fiftieth | 50th |
| 60th | the sixtieth | 60th |
| 70th | the seventieth | 70th |
| 80th | the eightieth | 80th |
| 90th | the ninetieth | 90th |
| 100th | the hundredth | 100th |
| 101st | the hundred and first | ... |
| 1000th | the thousandth | 1000th |
More Numbers
Your challenge is to practise your ordinal numbers:-
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Next Lesson - We have four seasons in the UK
Previous Lesson - The months of the year
Can you spell it? Yes you can! Spell It - (requires Macromedia Shockwave Player)
This traditional Christmas song, The Twelve Days of Christmas uses lots of ordinal numbers.