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Ella es la quinta niña.

Ella es la quinta niña.
She is the fifth girl.
From Lesson 57:Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero, segundo, tercero)·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of Ella es la quinta niña.

ser
to be
ella
she
la niña
the girl
quinto
fifth

Questions & Answers about Ella es la quinta niña.

Why is it quinta instead of quinto?
Ordinal numbers act like adjectives in Spanish. They change their ending to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because niña is a feminine noun, the base word quinto (fifth) changes to quinta.
Don't descriptive words usually go after the noun in Spanish? Why is it quinta niña?
Yes, most adjectives go after the noun (like la niña bonita). But ordinal numbers like quinta are an exception. They almost always come before the noun they count or describe, just like they do in English.
Does quinta ever drop its final letter like primer does?
No. The rule for dropping the final letter only happens with the masculine singular forms of first (primero becomes primer) and third (tercero becomes tercer). Feminine ordinal numbers like quinta never drop their final -a.
Why do we use es and not está here?
We use es (from the verb ser) because being the fifth girl in a sequence or family is a defining fact or identity. We use ser for identities and facts, whereas estar is used for temporary states and locations.

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