Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal Numbers
Dutch ordinals add -de or -ste to the number, with the cut-off falling around twenty. English uses four different suffixes and writes them attached to the digits; Dutch writes a bare number followed by a full stop.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
-de up to nineteen, -ste from twenty
vierde, vijfde, twintigste, honderdste
fourth, fifth, twentieth, hundredth
The rule is refreshingly simple: numbers below twenty take -de, and from twenty upward they take -ste. The exceptions are eerste (first), derde (third) and achtste (eighth), which you have to learn separately — exactly the three that are irregular in English too. Note that tweede takes -de as expected, so only three forms break the pattern.
Written as a numeral plus a full stop
de 1e prijs, de 3e verdieping — or 1., 3.
the 1st prize, the 3rd floor
English writes the last letters of the spoken word: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th. Dutch abbreviates with a single e (1e, 2e, 3e) or, in more formal and older usage, with a full stop after the numeral (1., 2.). There is never a superscript suffix carrying different letters for different numbers, which removes a whole set of English irregularities.
Ordinals behave like adjectives and take the article
de eerste keer, het tweede huis, mijn derde poging
the first time, the second house, my third attempt
An ordinal sits in the adjective slot in front of its noun and always follows an article or possessive. It keeps its -de/-ste form unchanged — there is no extra adjective ending to add, and no bare form to worry about. For dates and floors this makes them straightforward: de derde verdieping, de eerste mei.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- first
- English
- second
- English
- third
- English
- fourth
- English
- fifth
- English
- eighth
- English
- tenth
- English
- twentieth
- English
- the first time
- English
- the floor / storey
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