Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal numbers agree with their noun just like any other adjective — and past 'tenth', Spanish quietly abandons them in favor of the same plain numbers you already know.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Ordinals agree in gender and number, like adjectives
el primer libro (the first book, masc.) / la primera casa (the first house, fem.)
the first book / the first house — 'first' never changes
Because ordinal numbers function as ordinary adjectives, they take the same gender agreement you've applied to every other adjective in this course — primero/primera, segundo/segunda. English ordinals are completely invariant regardless of the noun's gender, since English nouns don't carry gender to agree with.
Past 'tenth', native speakers switch to cardinal numbers
el siglo veintiuno (the 21st century) — literally 'the century twenty-one', not an ordinal form
the 21st century — English keeps using ordinal forms indefinitely
While ordinal words technically exist beyond décimo (tenth), everyday Spanish overwhelmingly switches to plain cardinal numbers placed after the noun once you're past ten — el piso doce (the twelfth floor), not el piso duodécimo. English has no equivalent cutoff; it keeps using '-th' ordinals no matter how high the number gets.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- first
- English
- second
- English
- third
- English
- fourth
- English
- fifth
- English
- tenth
- English
- the first book
- English
- the first time
- English
- the twelfth floor
- English
- the 21st century