Ordinal Numbers

Cardinals answer “how many?”; ordinals answer “which one in the sequence?” Greek τρία counts three items, while τρίτος / τρίτη / τρίτο identifies the third one. Unlike most cardinals, every ordinal is an adjective and therefore agrees with its noun in gender, number, and case.

First through twelfth

The everyday core is first through tenth. Eleven and twelve are included because their stems are not predictable merely by attaching an ending to the cardinal.

These are vocabulary items, not a perfectly transparent series. In particular, learn δεύτερος, έβδομος, όγδοος, and ένατος as whole words; trying to derive each one mechanically from δύο, εφτά, οχτώ, εννιά will not produce the standard ordinal.

The -ος / -η / -ο agreement pattern

The citation form is masculine -ος. Replace it with feminine -η or neuter -ο: πρώτος / πρώτη / πρώτο, δεύτερος / δεύτερη / δεύτερο, δέκατος / δέκατη / δέκατο. The whole adjective then declines for case and number like the regular pattern on adjectives in -ος, -η, -ο.

English changes one to first but then leaves first fixed. Greek makes the ordinal participate in the noun phrase: ο τέταρτος υποψήφιος, του τέταρτου υποψηφίου, τους τέταρτους υποψηφίους.

Larger ordinals

Useful round-number ordinals include εικοστός “twentieth,” τριακοστός “thirtieth,” εκατοστός “hundredth,” and χιλιοστός “thousandth.” They take the same adjective endings.

From thirteen onward, compound ordinals are normally written as separate words: δέκατος τρίτος, εικοστός πρώτος, εκατοστός δεύτερος. Each ordinal component agrees with the same noun.

Order, floors, dates, and fractions

With floors, Greek says ισόγειο for the ground floor; ο πρώτος όροφος is the level above it. With chapters, turns, attempts, and positions, the noun itself chooses the gender: το τρίτο κεφάλαιο, η δεύτερη προσπάθεια, ο πέμπτος γύρος.

Dates can use an ordinal, especially πρώτη for the first day of a month and in more careful calendar wording, though everyday Greek very often uses cardinals. The date page explains that choice in context.

Neuter ordinal forms also name fractional parts because an understood μέρος “part” is neuter: ένα τρίτο, δύο τρίτα, τρία τέταρτα. This is why the same τέταρτο appears in clock time for “a quarter.”

Ordinals without an expressed noun

Like other adjectives, an ordinal can stand alone when the missing noun is clear. The definite article then carries useful gender and case information: το δεύτερο can mean “the second one” when the omitted item is neuter, while τη δεύτερη points to a feminine noun.

An ordinal can also function predicatively after a verb of arrival, finishing, or selection. It still agrees with the person or thing whose rank it describes.

English uses the same bare word first for every participant. Greek makes the speaker's choice audible: πρώτος for a man, πρώτη for a woman, πρώτο for a neuter noun.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Ordinals rank; cardinals count.
• Every ordinal is a fully declining adjective in -ος / -η / -ο.
• Memorize first through tenth as vocabulary; 11th and 12th are ενδέκατος and δωδέκατος.
• Larger compound ordinals are separate words, and each component agrees.
• Neuter ordinals provide the base for fractions: ένα τρίτο, τρία τέταρτα.