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:
English | Spanish | 🎧 |
---|---|---|
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
English | Spanish | 🎧 |
---|---|---|
1st = First | 1° – Primero | |
2nd = Second | 2° – Segundo | |
3rd = Third | 3° – Tercero | |
4th = Fourth | 4° – Cuarto | |
5th = Fifth | 5° – Quinto | |
6th = Sixth | 6° – Sexto | |
7th = Seventh | 7° – Séptimo | |
8º = Eight | 8° – Octavo | |
9th = Ninth | 9° – Noveno | |
10th = Tenth | 10° – 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:
English | Spanish | 🎧 |
---|---|---|
1st – First | 1° – Primera | |
2nd – Second | 2° – Segunda | |
3rd – Third | 3° – Tercera | |
4th – Fourth | 4° – Cuarta | |
5th – Fifth | 5° – Quinta | |
6th – Sixth | 6° – Sexta | |
7th – Seventh | 7° – Séptima | |
8th – Eight | 8° – Octava | |
9th – Ninth | 9° – Novena | |
10th – Tenth | 10° – Décima |
Let’s go with three examples of how to use ordinal numbers for feminine nouns or for women:
English | Spanish | 🎧 |
---|---|---|
My wife was the first cardiologist at the Nueva Vizcaya Cardiology Hospital | Mi esposa fue la primera cardióloga en el Hospital Cardiológico Nueva Vizcaya | |
My horse won the ninth race | Mi caballo ganó la novena carrera | |
I remember I was the first to have a smart phone in my class. It was 2007 | Recuerdo 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:
Feminine | Masculine | 🎧 |
---|---|---|
1° – Primeras | 1° – Primeros | |
2° – Segundas | 2° – Segundos | |
3° – Terceras | 3° – Terceros | |
4° – Cuartas | 4° – Cuartos | |
5° – Quintas | 5° – Quintos | |
6° – Sextas | 6° – Sextos | |
7° – Séptimas | 7° – Séptimos | |
8° – Octavas | 8° – Octavos | |
9° – Novenas | 9° – Novenos | |
10° – Décimas | 10° – Décimos |
Ordinal numbers from 11 to 19
English | Spanish | 🎧 |
---|---|---|
11th – eleventh | 11° – undécimo (also decimoprimero) | |
12th – twelfth | 12° – duodécimo (also decimosegundo) | |
13th – thirteenth | 13° – decimotercero | |
14th – fourteenth | 14° – decimocuarto | |
15th – fifteenth | 15° – decimoquinto | |
16th – sixteenth | 16° – decimosexto | |
17th – seventeenth | 17° – decimoséptimo | |
18th – eighteenth | 18° – decimoctavo | |
19th – nineteenth | 19° – decimonoveno |
All two-digit ordinal numbers ending in zero must end in “-gésimo” Here we go with all from 20th to 90th:
English | Spanish | 🎧 |
---|---|---|
20th – twentieth | 20° – vigésimo | |
30th – thirtieth | 30° – trigésimo | |
40th – fortieth | 40° – cuadragésimo | |
50th – fiftieth | 50° – quincuagésimo | |
60th – sixtieth | 60° – sexagésimo | |
70th – seventieth | 70° – septuagésimo | |
80th – eightieth | 80° – octogésimo | |
90th – ninetieth | 90° – nonagésimo | |
100th – hundredth | 100° – 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!