Cardinals answer “how many?”; ordinals answer “which position?” Lebanese therefore contrasts واحد “one” with أول “first,” and تنين “two” with تاني “second.” From first through tenth, ordinals behave much like adjectives: when they follow a noun, they agree with that noun and normally match its definiteness.
The forms below are informal, urban Lebanese. Spellings with ت in تاني، تالت، تامن reflect ordinary Beirut pronunciation; formal ثاني، ثالث، ثامن belong to MSA or careful formal reading.
The core forms from first to tenth
| Position | Masculine | Feminine | With a noun |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | أول awwal | أولى ūla | الطابق الأول / المحاولة الأولى |
| 2nd | تاني tēne | تانية tēnye | الطابق التاني / المحاولة التانية |
| 3rd | تالت tēlet | تالتة tēlte | الطابق التالت / المحاولة التالتة |
| 4th | رابع rābeʿ | رابعة rābʿa | الصف الرابع / المرة الرابعة |
| 5th | خامس khēmes | خامسة khēmse | المركز الخامس / النسخة الخامسة |
| 6th | سادس sēdes | سادسة sēdse | اليوم السادس / الحلقة السادسة |
| 7th | سابع sābeʿ | سابعة sābʿa | الباب السابع / الساعة السابعة |
| 8th | تامن tēmen | تامنة tēmne | الشهر التامن / الصفحة التامنة |
| 9th | تاسع tēseʿ | تاسعة tēsʿa | الطابق التاسع / السنة التاسعة |
| 10th | عاشر ʿāsher | عاشرة ʿāshra | الصف العاشر / الحلقة العاشرة |
أول/أولى and تاني/تانية are lexical forms: they are not predictable modifications of “one” and “two.” Memorize them as separate vocabulary.
هيدا أول يوم إلي بالشغل الجديد.
hayda awwal yōm ile bish-shoghol el-zhdīd.
This is my first day at the new job. (informal; preposed masculine أول)
بالمحاولة التانية زبطت معنا.
bil-muḥāwale t-tēnye zbiṭet maʿna.
It worked for us on the second try. (informal; postposed feminine agreement)
خلصت الحلقة التامنة وبلشت التاسعة.
khallaṣet el-ḥalʾa t-tēmne w-ballashit et-tēsʿa.
I finished the eighth episode and started the ninth. (informal; feminine ordinal with an omitted repeated noun)
After the noun: adjective agreement and definiteness
The transparent pattern is definite noun + definite ordinal. Masculine طابق takes التاني; feminine محاولة takes التانية. The ordinal agrees with the grammatical gender of the noun, not with the person associated with it.
مكتبنا بالطابق التالت، حد الدرج.
maktabna biṭ-ṭābeʾ et-tēlet, ḥadd ed-darazh.
Our office is on the third floor, beside the stairs. (informal; masculine طابق)
رنا ربحت المرتبة التانية بالمسابقة.
Rana ribḥit el-martabe t-tēnye bil-musēbaʾa.
Rana won second place in the competition. (informal; feminine مرتبة controls تانية)
نادين وصلت بالمركز الأول، ومايا بالمركز الرابع.
Nādīn wiṣlet bil-markaz el-awwal, w-Māya bil-markaz er-rābeʿ.
Nadine came in first place, and Maya in fourth. (informal; masculine مركز controls both ordinals)
Although Nadine and Maya are women, الأول and الرابع are masculine because the expressed noun is المركز. Lebanese agreement follows syntax, not the real-world sex of the contestant.
Before the noun: the unmarked masculine form
Lebanese also puts an ordinal before a noun in common sequencing expressions: أول مرة “the first time,” تاني يوم “the next/second day,” تالت محاولة “a third attempt.” In this position, use the unmarked masculine ordinal without الـ, even before a feminine noun.
أول مرة زرت بيروت كان عمري عشرين سنة.
awwal marra zort Bayrūt kēn ʿomre ʿishrīn sane.
The first time I visited Beirut, I was twenty years old. (informal; preposed أول before feminine مرة)
تاني يوم رجعنا عالسوق بكير.
tēne yōm rzhiʿna ʿas-sūʾ bkīr.
The next day, we went back to the market early. (informal; preposed تاني)
بعد تالت محاولة، فتح معنا الرابط.
baʿd tēlet muḥāwale, fitiḥ maʿna r-rābeṭ.
After a third attempt, the link opened for us. (informal; unmarked preposed ordinal before a feminine noun)
Compare أول مرة with المرة الأولى. Both mean “the first time,” but the first is a highly frequent sequencing phrase; the second explicitly treats المرة as an identified noun and adds an agreeing adjective.
Floors and room labels
Lebanese building speech distinguishes الطابق الأرضي “ground floor” from الطابق الأول “first floor.” In many Lebanese buildings this resembles European numbering, with the first floor above ground level, but signs and elevator buttons remain the authority.
العيادة بالطابق الأول، فوق الأرضي دغري.
el-ʿiyēde biṭ-ṭābeʾ el-awwal, fawʾ el-arḍe doghre.
The clinic is on the first floor, directly above the ground floor. (informal; local floor distinction made explicit)
Room numbers are often labels rather than true ordinals: غرفة مية واتنين is “room 102,” read as a number. Do not automatically translate every English numbered label with an ordinal.
Beyond tenth: cardinal forms do the ordinal work
Spoken Lebanese does not productively build a separate “eleventh, twelfth, twentieth…” series. It normally places the cardinal form after the noun. In a true definite sequence, the numeral may take الـ: المرة العشرين “the twentieth time.” Labels often remain bare: غرفة عشرين “room 20.”
هيدي المرة العشرين يلي منأجل فيها الاجتماع.
hayde l-marra l-ʿishrīn yalle mnaʾazhzhil fīha l-izhtimēʿ.
This is the twentieth time we've postponed the meeting. (informal; cardinal عشرين used ordinally after the noun)
اسمي بالمرتبة واحد وعشرين عاللائحة.
isme bil-martabe wāḥad w-ʿishrīn ʿal-lēyḥa.
My name is twenty-first on the list. (informal; compound cardinal after the ranking noun)
Formal الحادي عشر، الحادية عشرة are valid (formal) MSA forms, but inserting them into otherwise casual Beirut speech creates an unnecessary register jump.
Dates: first is special
The first day of a month naturally uses أول before the month: أول أيار “May first.” Other colloquial dates normally use cardinal day numbers: تلاتة أيار “May third,” not a full ordinal paradigm.
العطلة بتبلش أول آب وبتخلص تلاتين آب.
el-ʿoṭle btballesh awwal Āb w-btikhlaṣ tlētīn Āb.
The holiday starts August first and ends August thirtieth. (informal; special أول, then a cardinal date)
See dates, years, and decades for month names and written formats.
Reading times in a schedule
An ordinal can sequence appointments, but the clock reading itself uses the ordinary Lebanese time forms.
الموعد الأول الساعة تلاتة، والتاني الساعة أربعة ونص.
el-mawʿed el-awwal es-sēʿa tlēte, wit-tēne s-sēʿa arbaʿa w-noṣṣ.
The first appointment is at three, and the second at four thirty. (informal; ordinals sequence two clock times)
This is not “the third hour” or “the fourth hour.” Lebanese clock speech has its own conventional forms, covered on the clock-time page.
Exact versus approximate location: a dialogue
العيادة تقريبا بالطابق الخامس، صح؟
el-ʿiyēde taʾrīban biṭ-ṭābeʾ el-khēmes, ṣaḥḥ?
Nour: The clinic is around the fifth floor, right? (informal; approximate recollection)
لا، العنوان كاتب الطابق السادس، والموعد الساعة تلاتة ونص بالضبط.
la, l-ʿinwēn kēteb eṭ-ṭābeʾ es-sēdes, wil-mawʿed es-sēʿa tlēte w-noṣṣ biḍ-ḍabṭ.
Rami: No, the address says the sixth floor, and the appointment is exactly at three thirty. (informal; exact ordinal and exact time)
Common Mistakes
Using the cardinal for “first”
❌ وصلت بالمركز الواحد.
Incorrect for a ranking—واحد counts one; it does not mean first.
✅ وصلت بالمركز الأول.
wiṣlet bil-markaz el-awwal.
She came in first place. (informal; lexical ordinal أول)
Forgetting feminine agreement after the noun
❌ زبطت بالمحاولة التالت.
Incorrect—postposed ordinal adjectives agree with feminine محاولة.
✅ زبطت بالمحاولة التالتة.
zbiṭet bil-muḥāwale t-tēlte.
It worked on the third try. (informal; feminine agreement)
Carrying the feminine form before the noun
❌ كانت الأولى مرة بزور بيروت.
Incorrect in the preposed pattern—use unarticled masculine أول before مرة.
✅ كانت أول مرة بزور بيروت.
kēnet awwal marra bzūr Bayrūt.
It was my first time visiting Beirut. (informal; conventional preposed form)
Agreeing with the person instead of the ranking noun
❌ نادين بالمركز الأولى.
Incorrect—المركز is masculine even though Nadine is a woman.
✅ نادين بالمركز الأول.
Nādīn bil-markaz el-awwal.
Nadine is in first place. (informal; agreement with مركز)
Mixing formal interdental forms into casual speech
❌ مكتبنا بالطابق الثاني.
Register mismatch in the Beirut production baseline—الثاني is the formal written form.
✅ مكتبنا بالطابق التاني.
maktabna biṭ-ṭābeʾ et-tēne.
Our office is on the second floor. (informal Beirut; تاني)
Key Takeaways
Use distinct lexical أول and تاني for first and second. After a noun, ordinals through ten behave like definite agreeing adjectives: الطابق التالت، المحاولة التالتة. Before a noun, the unarticled masculine form is conventional: أول مرة، تاني يوم. Above ten, Lebanese normally reuses a cardinal after the noun. For dates, أول is special; later days are usually cardinal numbers.
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