Breakdown of Кто занял первое место в пятом раунде?
кто
who / whoever
место
place, seat
в
in / to (direction)
первый
first (1st)
Questions & Answers about Кто занял первое место в пятом раунде?
Why is the ordinal number пятом used instead of пятый?
It is in the prepositional case because it follows the preposition в (in) to indicate when this happened. Since раунд (round) is a masculine noun, the ordinal number пятый changes its ending to -ом to match, becoming пятом.
Why doesn't первое change its ending in the same way?
The phrase первое место is the direct object of the verb занял (took), so it is in the accusative case. Because место is a neuter, inanimate noun, its accusative form looks exactly the same as its nominative (dictionary) form. The ordinal number первое simply copies this behavior.
Why is the verb занял in the masculine form if we don't know who won?
Does the verb занял always mean "took" in the context of a competition?