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### Ordinal Decades

When talking about milestones like a "twentieth celebration" or a "fiftieth anniversary," Arabic uses the exact same words as the cardinal tens (20, 30, 40, up to 90). To turn them into ordinal numbers (20th, 30th, 40th), simply add the definite article **الـ**.

These ordinal decades act as adjectives and match the case of the noun they describe. They decline using the sound masculine plural endings: **ـون** for the nominative case, and **ـين** for the accusative and genitive cases.

Importantly, ordinal decades do not change for gender. They keep their sound masculine plural form whether modifying a masculine noun (like **احتفال**) or a feminine noun (like **ذكرى**).

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### Changing Case in Context

When a milestone functions as the object of a verb (accusative) or follows a preposition (genitive), the ordinal decade shifts to its oblique form ending in **ـين**.

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Ordinal decades (العشرون)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

interrogative

noun

numeral

particle

prefix

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

The definite article and locatives (الـ)

Basic noun gender (ة)

Sun and moon letters

Singular subject pronouns (أنا، أنت، هو، هي)

Indefinite nouns and nominal sentences (ـٌ)

Demonstrative pronouns for 'this' (هذا / هذه)

Separate prepositions (في، من، إلى، على)

Attributive adjectives

Predicative adjectives

Yes/No questions (هل، أ)

Basic questions (من، ما، أين)

Singular possessive pronouns (ـي، ـك، ـه، ـها)

Plural subject pronouns (نحن، أنتم، هم)

Plural possessive pronouns (ـنا، ـكم، ـهم)

Noun possession

Attached prepositions (بـ، لـ، كـ)

Pronouns with prepositions

Having and possessing (عند، لـ، مع)

Regular plural nouns (ـون، ـين، ـات)

Broken plurals

Dual nouns (ـان / ـين)

Plural and distant demonstratives (هؤلاء، ذلك، تلك)

Non-human plural agreement

Present tense singular verbs

Verbal sentences (VSO)

Present tense plural verbs

Topicalized sentences (SVO)

The indefinite accusative case (ـاً)

Verb object pronouns (-ني، -ك، -ه)

Present tense negation (لا)

Question words with verbs (متى، كيف...)

Adverbs of time and place

The future tense (سـ / سوف)

Intentions and desires (أن)

Negating states and possession (ليس)

Past tense singular suffixes

Past tense plural suffixes

Negating past events (ما)

Singular commands

Numbers 1 to 10

Number agreement for 1 and 2 (واحد، اثنان)

Asking how many (كم)

Numbers 3 to 10 (ثلاثة إلى عشرة)

Ordinal numbers 1 to 10 (الأول، الثاني)

Basic conjunctions (فـ، أو، لكن)

Ordering at a café (واحد، اثنان)

Food and drink with conjunctions (و، ف، أو، لكن)

There is and there are (هناك / ليس هناك)

Direct address (يا)

Giving reasons (لأنّ)

Relative pronouns (الذي / التي)

Quantifiers (كل / بعض)

The past tense of 'to be' (كان)

Past possession

Numbers 11 to 19 and tens to 80

Telling time (الساعة)

This book vs this is a book (هذا الكتاب، هذا كتاب)

Greetings (مرحبا، السلام عليكم)

How are you? and goodbye (كيف حالك، مع السلامة)

Nationalities (مصري، مصرية)

Roots and patterns (كتب، كتاب، مكتب)

Politeness (من فضلك، آسف)

Complex possession chains

Colors and traits (أفعل / فعلاء)

Plural colors and traits (فُعْل)

Comparative adjectives (أفعل من)

Superlative adjectives (أفعل)

Adverbs of manner (ـاً)

The nominative case (ـُ)

The genitive case (ـِ)

The accusative case (ـَ)

Dual noun cases (ـان / ـين)

Masculine plurals and 'the best of' (أفضل النجارين)

Emphasizing sentences (إنّ)

Connecting clauses (أنّ)

Reporting speech (قال إنّ)

Expressing contrast (لكنّ)

Comparison and probability (كأنّ, لعلّ)

Distant plural pointing (أولئك)

Plural relative pronouns (الذين, اللواتي)

Past habits (كان + present)

Ongoing actions (ما زال)

Masculine plurals online (مبرمجون، مؤثرون)

Perfective past (قد)

Probability (قد)

The subjunctive mood (أن)

Question	Answer
celebration	احتفالihtifâl
institution	مؤسسةmu'assasah
culmination	تتويجtatwîj
glorious	مجيدmajîd
The twentieth celebration of the institution is a glorious culmination.	الاحتفال العشرون للمؤسسة تتويج مجيد.al-ihtifâlu al-'ishrûna lil-mu'assasati tatwîjun majîd
anniversary	ذكرىdhikrâ
foundation (act of establishing)	تأسيسta'sîs
leading	رائدrâ'id
We attended the glorious celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the foundation of the leading institution.	حضرنا الاحتفال المجيد بالذكرى العشرين لتأسيس المؤسسة الرائدة.haḍarnâ al-ihtifâla al-majîda bidh-dhikrâ al-ishrîna lita'sîsi al-mu'assasati ar-râ'idah
prestigious	مرموقmarmûq
jubilee	يوبيلyûbîl
The prestigious university itself organized its thirtieth jubilee.	نظمت الجامعة المرموقة نفسها يوبيلها الثلاثين.nazzamati l-jâmi'atu l-marmûqatu nafsuhâ yûbîlahâ th-thalâthîn
commemoration	تخليدtakhlîd
The professor published a book in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the institution.	نشرت الأستاذة كتابا تخليدا للذكرى الأربعين للمؤسسة.nasharati l-ustâdhatu kitâban takhlîdan lildhikra l-arba'îna lilmu'assasati.
The fiftieth anniversary is a culmination of a long history.	الذكرى الخمسون تتويج لتاريخ طويل.adhdhikrâ alkhamsûna tatwîjun litârîkhin tawîlin.
There is a great celebration for the sixtieth anniversary of the foundation of the prestigious hospital.	يوجد احتفال كبير بالذكرى الستين لتأسيس المستشفى المرموق.yûjadu ihtifâlun kabîrun bidh-dhikrâ as-sittîna lita'sîsi al-mustashfâ al-marmûqi
The leading doctor reached her seventieth year today.	بلغت الطبيبة الرائدة عامها السبعين اليوم.balaghati ttabîbatu rrâ'idatu 'âmahâ ssab'îna lyawm
The engineer got an award in commemoration of his eightieth birthday.	حصل المهندس على جائزة تخليدا لعيد ميلاده الثمانين.hasala al-muhandisu ala jâ'izatin takhlîdan liidi mîlâdihi ath-thamânîn
pioneering	ريادةriyâda
The researcher praised the institution's pioneering in its fiftieth year.	أشاد الباحث بريادة المؤسسة في عامها الخمسين.ashâda al-bâhithu biriyâdati al-mu'assasati fî 'âmihâ al-khamsîn
The manager attended the twentieth jubilee of the institution's leadership.	حضر المدير اليوبيل العشرين لريادة المؤسسة.hadara al-mudîru al-yûbîla al-'ishrîna li-riyâdati al-mu'assasati