You already know how Afrikaans builds ordinals — eerste, tweede, derde, vierde and the -de / -ste endings (covered on ordinal numbers). This page is about putting them to work: saying a date, counting through a series, naming a floor or a grade, numbering a monarch, and — the piece courses always skip — using the special -ens ordinals (eerstens, tweedens) to organise an argument. The orthography to watch is the abbreviated form: Afrikaans writes 1ste, 2de, 3de — the ending sits on the line, never raised as a superscript the way English writes "1st."
Dates
A spoken date puts the ordinal first, then the month: die derde Mei ("the third of May"). There is no of — the month simply follows.
My verjaarsdag is die derde Mei.
My birthday is the third of May.
Die vergadering is op die eerste Junie.
The meeting is on the first of June.
Hulle trou die sewentiende Desember.
They're getting married on the seventeenth of December.
In figures, the ordinal abbreviation attaches directly to the numeral with no space and no superscript: 3 Mei in the plainest written form, or die 3de Mei when you want the ordinal spelled in. For the full system of writing dates — including the all-numeric 2026-05-03 order — see dates and the calendar.
Series and sequences
Counting through items uses the plain ordinal with the article: die eerste keer, die tweede keer ("the first time, the second time"). Each step keeps die and the ordinal.
Dit is die eerste keer dat ek hier kom.
This is the first time I've come here.
Vir die tweede keer vandag het die krag afgegaan.
For the second time today the power went off.
Sy het in die derde plek geëindig.
She finished in third place.
For centuries the ordinal precedes eeu: die 21ste eeu ("the 21st century"). Note again the flat -ste ending on the figure.
Ons leef in die 21ste eeu.
We live in the 21st century.
Floors, grades and editions
Ordinals number physical and institutional levels. A floor: die derde verdieping ("the third floor"). A school grade in South Africa is graad plus a cardinal, not an ordinal — this is a real difference from English "third grade."
Ons kantoor is op die derde verdieping.
Our office is on the third floor.
My seun is in graad vier.
My son is in grade four.
That last point matters: you say graad vier (grade four — cardinal), never die vierde graad for a school year. English mixes ordinal and cardinal here ("fourth grade" vs "grade 4"); Afrikaans uses the cardinal with graad. Editions and volumes, by contrast, take ordinals: die tweede uitgawe ("the second edition").
Dit is die tweede uitgawe van die boek.
It's the second edition of the book.
Monarchs and titles: name + die + ordinal
To number a king, queen or pope, Afrikaans uses name + die + ordinal, with the ordinal capitalised when it stands as part of the title: Karel die Vyfde ("Charles the Fifth"), Hendrik die Agtste ("Henry the Eighth"), Elizabeth die Tweede ("Elizabeth the Second").
Karel die Vyfde het oor 'n groot ryk geheers.
Charles the Fifth ruled over a vast empire.
Hendrik die Agtste het ses vroue gehad.
Henry the Eighth had six wives.
Sy was vernoem na Elizabeth die Tweede.
She was named after Elizabeth the Second.
This is exactly the English pattern ("the Eighth"), so the structure is easy — the only work is getting the ordinal itself right (die Vyfde, not die Vyf).
die hoeveelste? — 'which-numbered?'
Afrikaans has a single interrogative ordinal English lacks entirely: die hoeveelste?, literally "the how-many-eth?" — asking what position something holds in a sequence. English has to paraphrase ("which one in order?", "what number?"); Afrikaans asks it in one word.
Die hoeveelste is dit vandag?
What's the date today? (lit. 'the how-many-eth is it')
Vir die hoeveelste keer moet ek dit sê?
How many times do I have to say it?
-ens adverbial ordinals: structuring an argument
This is the part competitors leave out, and it is where ordinals stop being about counting and start doing real discourse work. Add -ens to the lower ordinals and you get adverbs that mean "firstly, secondly, thirdly" — the connectives you use to lay out points in order.
| Form | English |
|---|---|
| eerstens | firstly / in the first place |
| tweedens | secondly |
| derdens | thirdly |
| laastens | lastly |
These open a clause and frame each successive point in an argument, list or set of instructions. They are slightly formal, at home in essays, presentations and careful explanation.
Eerstens is dit te duur, en tweedens het ons nie tyd nie.
Firstly it's too expensive, and secondly we don't have time.
Eerstens, tweedens en derdens — ek stem met al drie punte saam.
Firstly, secondly and thirdly — I agree with all three points.
Laastens wil ek almal bedank wat gehelp het.
Lastly, I want to thank everyone who helped.
Because they organise a text rather than count objects, eerstens and friends belong with the discourse connectors just as much as with the numbers. They are the ordinal system reaching out of arithmetic and into rhetoric — and recognising that is what separates a learner who can count from one who can argue.
Ordinals inside fractions
Ordinals also form the denominators of fractions: een derde (a third), twee vyfdes (two fifths), drie kwart / drie kwarte (three quarters). The denominator is the ordinal; the numerator is a cardinal. The full mechanics — including decimals and percentages — live on fractions, decimals and percentages, but it is worth seeing the link here: the same -de / -ste ending that numbers a floor also names a fractional part.
Twee derdes van die klas was afwesig.
Two thirds of the class were absent.
Sy het net die eerste kwart van die boek gelees.
She read only the first quarter of the book.
Common mistakes
❌ My verjaarsdag is die 3rd Mei.
Incorrect — English suffix. Afrikaans uses the flat -de form: die 3de Mei.
✅ My verjaarsdag is die 3de Mei.
My birthday is the 3rd of May.
❌ Ons leef in die 21st eeu.
Incorrect — the ending is flat -ste, not English 'st': die 21ste eeu.
✅ Ons leef in die 21ste eeu.
We live in the 21st century.
❌ My seun is in die vierde graad.
Incorrect — a school year takes a cardinal with graad: graad vier.
✅ My seun is in graad vier.
My son is in grade four.
❌ Eerste, ek stem nie saam nie.
Incorrect — to mean 'firstly' you need the -ens adverbial form: eerstens.
✅ Eerstens stem ek nie saam nie.
Firstly, I don't agree.
❌ Karel die Vyf het geheers.
Incorrect — a monarch's number is an ordinal: Karel die Vyfde.
✅ Karel die Vyfde het geheers.
Charles the Fifth ruled.
Key takeaways
- Dates are ordinal + month with no of: die derde Mei. Abbreviations are flat on the line — 1ste, 2de, 3de, 21ste — never superscript.
- Series keep die
- ordinal (die eerste keer); centuries take ordinals (die 21ste eeu); editions too (die tweede uitgawe).
- School grades use a cardinal: graad vier, not die vierde graad.
- Monarchs follow name + die + ordinal: Karel die Vyfde, Hendrik die Agtste.
- die hoeveelste? asks "which-numbered?" — a one-word question English can't match.
- The -ens ordinals (eerstens, tweedens, laastens) structure an argument and double as discourse connectors. For formation see ordinal numbers; for dates, dates and the calendar.
Now practice Afrikaans
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Start learning Afrikaans→Related Topics
- Ordinal NumbersA2 — How Afrikaans builds 'first, second, third' — the -de versus -ste split, the three small irregulars (eerste, derde, agste), and how ordinals are used for ranks and dates.
- Dates and the CalendarA2 — Days, months and dates in Afrikaans — days and months are capitalised, dates use ordinals and run day-month-year, op marks the day, and years are read in pieces.
- Fractions, Decimals and PercentagesB1 — How Afrikaans builds fractions from ordinals ('n derde, twee derdes), reads decimals with a comma (3,5 = drie komma vyf) and expresses percentages (vyftig persent).
- Discourse Connectors: in elk geval, trouens, boonopB2 — Sentence-level connectors like boonop, trouens and nietemin take first position and trigger V2 inversion, structuring an argument across sentences.