lesson 22 - Ordinal numbers (1 - 1000)

Ordinal numbers (1 - 1000)

You should already be able to count up to 1000 in English. The ordinary "cardinal" numbers were covered in lessons 5, 15 and 20.

Learn Ordinal Numbers

Cardinal numbers express quantity: two (2), thirty-five (35) etc...

Ordinal numbers indicate order or rank: first (1st), second (2nd), third (3rd) etc...

The definite article "the" normally goes in front of an ordinal number: e.g. "Queen Elizabeth the second."

For most ordinal numbers, the ending '-th' is used, with one or two exceptions for those inevitable irregular numbers:-

Ordinal numbers 1 to 19

Ordinal numbers such as 21st, 33rd etc are formed by combining a CARDINAL ten with an ORDINAL unit.

The "y" of "twenty", "thirty", "forty", etc. is changed to "ieth":-