Ordinal Numbers (1st to 10th)
Ordinal numbers show order or rank. In Spanish, they usually go before the noun and agree in gender and number.
| Number | Ordinal | Number | Ordinal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | primero | 6th | sexto |
| 2nd | segundo | 7th | séptimo |
| 3rd | tercero | 8th | octavo |
| 4th | cuarto | 9th | noveno |
| 5th | quinto | 10th | décimo |
Like other adjectives, they change their ending to -a for feminine nouns:
| The second car is blue. | El segundo carro es azul. |
| The ninth class is difficult. | La novena clase es difícil. |
Dropping the "-o" (primer and tercer)
Primero (1st) and tercero (3rd) drop their final -o when placed directly before a masculine singular noun, becoming primer and tercer.
| He is the first student. | Él es el primer estudiante. |
| My office is on the third floor. | Mi oficina está en el tercer piso. |
If the noun is feminine, they follow the normal rule (primera, tercera). If used on their own without a noun directly after them, they keep the -o.
| You are the first and I am the tenth. | Tú eres el primero y yo soy el décimo. |
Floors and Sequences
Ordinals are commonly used to talk about the floors of a building, days in a sequence, or specific events.
| The seventh day of the week is Sunday. | El séptimo día de la semana es el domingo. |
| The second class is on the ninth floor. | La segunda clase es en el noveno piso. |
Your questions are stored by us to improve Elon.io