Ordinals from four to ten
In the previous lesson you met birinci, ikinci and üçüncü. The same suffix -(I)ncI builds every other ordinal, so let's complete the first ten. The suffix vowel follows four-way vowel harmony, and when the number itself already ends in a vowel, the suffix's first vowel drops:
| number | ordinal |
|---|---|
| dört (four) | dördüncü |
| beş (five) | beşinci |
| altı (six) | altıncı |
| yedi (seven) | yedinci |
| sekiz (eight) | sekizinci |
| dokuz (nine) | dokuzuncu |
| on (ten) | onuncu |
Watch dördüncü: the final t of dört softens to d before the suffix's vowel — the same consonant softening you already know from kitap → kitabı. Vowel-final altı and yedi take just -ncı / -nci, while consonant-final numbers take the full suffix with its harmony vowel: beş-inci, sekiz-inci, dokuz-uncu, on-uncu.
Asking "which in order?"
To ask about position in a sequence, put the same suffix on kaç: kaçıncı. It asks "the how-many-eth?" — English has no single word for it. Kaçıncı katta oturuyorsunuz? — Beşinci katta. Yarışmada kaçıncı oldun? — İkinci oldum. Note the pattern ... oldu for results and rankings: altıncı oldum = "I came sixth".
Counting and big numbers
A number as a quantity is a sayı — compare numara, which is a label such as a phone or door number. The verb saymak means to count: Çocuk ona kadar sayıyor. For large amounts Turkish uses milyon and milyar (a thousand million). Like every numeral, they are followed by a singular noun: iki milyon insan — never a plural after a number.