Dates beyond the twelfth (den tjugoförsta)

Finishing the Calendar

You can now say dates up to the twelfth — but most of the month is still missing. The good news: from thirteen upwards, the ordinals are regular.

Teens: Add -de

The numbers 13–19 simply add -de:

numberordinal
trettontrettonde
fjortonfjortonde
femtonfemtonde
artonartonde
nittonnittonde
My birthday is the thirteenth of May.
Min födelsedag är den trettonde maj.

Whole Tens: Add -nde

Tjugo and trettio add -nde: tjugonde (20th), trettionde (30th).

He is coming on the twentieth of December.
Han kommer den tjugonde december.

In Between: Reuse första and andra

For 21st, 22nd and beyond, Swedish just glues the ordinal you already know onto the ten: tjugoförsta (21st), tjugoandra (22nd), tjugotredje (23rd) ... and trettioförsta (31st) for the last day of the long months.

We are celebrating the party on the twenty-first of June.
Vi firar kalaset den tjugoförsta juni.
Today is the thirty-first of July.
Idag är det den trettioförsta juli.

The date frame stays exactly the same as before: den + ordinal + month.

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