Questions & Answers about El tercer carro es rojo.
Why is it tercer and not tercero?
In Spanish, the ordinal numbers primero (first) and tercero (third) drop their final -o when they come directly before a masculine singular noun. Since carro is a masculine singular noun, tercero becomes tercer.
Does tercer have to go before the noun? I thought adjectives usually go after nouns in Spanish.
You are right that descriptive adjectives (like rojo) usually come after the noun. However, ordinal numbers (like primer, segundo, tercer) are an exception. They almost always come before the noun, just like in English.
Why do we use es instead of está for the color?
I learned the word coche for car. Is carro the same thing?
Yes! Carro, auto, and coche all mean 'car'. In Latin America, carro and auto are the most common words you will hear, while coche is used much more in Spain.
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