Marie est neuvième.

to be

Breakdown of Marie est neuvième.

• Marie: Marie
• neuvième: ninth

Questions & Answers about Marie est neuvième.

What does est mean here?

Est is the third-person singular form of the verb être, which means to be.

So:

• Marie = the subject
• est = is
• neuvième = ninth

That is why Marie est neuvième means Marie is ninth.

What kind of word is neuvième?

Neuvième is an ordinal number, meaning a word like first, second, third, ninth.

In French:

• neuf = nine (cardinal number)
• neuvième = ninth (ordinal number)

So neuvième tells you Marie’s position in an order or ranking, not the quantity.

Why is there no word for the before neuvième?

Because neuvième is being used after the verb être as a predicate adjective.

In English, we also say:

• Marie is ninth not necessarily
• Marie is the ninth

French works similarly here:

• Marie est neuvième = Marie is ninth

If you say Marie est la neuvième, that usually means Marie is the ninth one or gives a more specific sense of identification within a group.

Why doesn’t seem to change for feminine?