Ordinal Numbers in Spanish

Welcome to a new lesson! This time we are going to discuss ordinal numbers in Spanish. Ordinal numbers are an essential part of Spanish vocabulary and are used in a variety of contexts, such as dates, rankings, competitions and more.

Ordinal numbers are used to indicate the position or order of something in a sequence. Learning Spanish ordinal numbers is essential for effective communication in everyday situations, such as making reservations, talking about the date and time, classifying objects and much more.

In Spanish, ordinal numbers also have gender and number, which means that they must agree with the noun to which they refer. For example, “el primer helado del día” or “la mi primera hermana”.

So, if you’re ready to learn more about ordinal numbers in Spanish, go ahead and enjoy this exciting lesson!

Using ordinal numbers as adjectives

To use these numbers as adjectives, it is necessary to match the gender and number with the noun to which they refer. For example, if we want to say “third ice cream” in Spanish, the ordinal number “tercero” must agree with the noun “helado” which is masculine and singular. So we would say “el tercer helado”.

Let’s look at some more examples to illustrate how ordinal numbers are used as adjectives in Spanish:

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EnglishSpanish🎧
The first time I went to the theater, I saw the nutcracker.La primera vez que fui al teatro, vi el cascanueces.

My boyfriend came first in the swimming competition.
Mi novio quedó primero en la competencia de natación.
This year I am celebrating my tenth wedding anniversary.Este año celebro mi décimo aniversario de bodas.

Ordinal numbers from 1 to 10

EnglishSpanish🎧
1st = First1° – Primero
2nd = Second2° – Segundo
3rd = Third3° – Tercero
4th = Fourth4° – Cuarto
5th = Fifth5° – Quinto
6th = Sixth6° – Sexto
7th = Seventh7° – Séptimo
8º = Eight8° – Octavo
9th = Ninth9° – Noveno
10th = Tenth10° – Décimo

Ordinal numbers for female gender

It is important to note that the numbers explained above are in their masculine form. By them we mean men or nouns of the masculine gender.
We can also use the ordinal numbers for women and nouns of the feminine gender. We will take the masculine ending of the numbers “-o” and add the ending “-a”, which will look like this:

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EnglishSpanish🎧
1st – First1° – Primera
2nd – Second2° – Segunda
3rd – Third3° – Tercera
4th – Fourth4° – Cuarta
5th – Fifth5° – Quinta
6th – Sixth6° – Sexta
7th – Seventh7° – Séptima
8th – Eight8° – Octava
9th – Ninth9° – Novena
10th – Tenth10° – Décima

Let’s go with three examples of how to use ordinal numbers for feminine nouns or for women:

EnglishSpanish🎧
My wife was the first cardiologist at the Nueva Vizcaya Cardiology HospitalMi esposa fue la primera cardióloga en el Hospital Cardiológico Nueva Vizcaya
My horse won the ninth raceMi caballo ganó la novena carrera
I remember I was the first to have a smart phone in my class. It was 2007Recuerdo que fui la primera en tener un teléfono inteligente en mi clase. Fue en el año 2007

Ordinal numbers in plural form

Los números ordinales tanto en su forma masculina como femenina tienen plurales. Esto se logra agregando una “-s” al final del número ordinal, con lo que quedaría de la siguiente forma:

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FeminineMasculine🎧
1° – Primeras1° – Primeros
2° – Segundas2° – Segundos
3° – Terceras3° – Terceros
4° – Cuartas4° – Cuartos
5° – Quintas5° – Quintos
6° – Sextas6° – Sextos
7° – Séptimas7° – Séptimos
8° – Octavas8° – Octavos
9° – Novenas9° – Novenos
10° – Décimas10° – Décimos

Ordinal numbers from 11 to 19

EnglishSpanish🎧
11th – eleventh11° – undécimo (also decimoprimero)
12th – twelfth12° – duodécimo (also decimosegundo)
13th – thirteenth13° – decimotercero
14th – fourteenth14° – decimocuarto
15th – fifteenth15° – decimoquinto
16th – sixteenth16° – decimosexto
17th – seventeenth17° – decimoséptimo
18th – eighteenth18° – decimoctavo
19th – nineteenth19° – decimonoveno

All two-digit ordinal numbers ending in zero must end in “-gésimo” Here we go with all from 20th to 90th:

EnglishSpanish🎧
20th – twentieth20° – vigésimo
30th – thirtieth30° – trigésimo
40th – fortieth40° – cuadragésimo
50th – fiftieth50° – quincuagésimo
60th – sixtieth60° – sexagésimo
70th – seventieth70° – septuagésimo
80th – eightieth80° – octogésimo
90th – ninetieth90° – nonagésimo
100th – hundredth100° – centésimo

How can I create the rest of the numbers

To form the rest of the numbers, we must take the ordinal numbers that we learned from 1 to 9 and place them after the ones we learned previously, that is, to form the number 47, we take the
fortieth and combine it with the seventh number:

🎧
47° = cuadragésimo + séptimo = cuadragésimo séptimo

Final lesson recommendations

Congratulations on learning how to form ordinal numbers in Spanish from 1 to 100! Remember that these numbers are essential for the order of something and are especially useful in everyday situations such as asking for a place in a line or listing a list of events that have occurred.

Constant practice is key to learning and retaining the use of ordinal numbers in Spanish. It is important to take the example sentences and practice them so that you can apply them correctly in conversation and writing. A good way to practice is to write lists of ordinal numbers and count objects in order.

Remember that practice makes perfect, so keep practicing and you will see how with time you will be able to use ordinal numbers in Spanish naturally and fluently. Courage!

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