- What are ordinal numbers?
- Difference Between Ordinal Numbers and Cardinal Numbers
- How are ordinal numbers written?
- How do you convert a cardinal number to an ordinal number?
- Ordinal numbers from 1 to 1000
We explain what ordinal numbers are, how they are written and their differences from cardinal numbers. Also, the ordinal numbers from 1 to 1000.
What are ordinal numbers?
In math, ordinal numbers are those that, instead of indicating the number of things to which one refers, indicate the order of things within a certain sequence or succession. That is, they are the numbers with which we express the order or sequence of things, instead of their quantity.
For example, given any three elements in a sequence 1, 2, 3, we say that 1 is the first element, 2 is the second and three is the third. These are, precisely, their ordinals, and they differ from the cardinal numbers, with which quantities are expressed in a common way.
Ordinal numbers have their correlate in idiom in the ordinal adjectives. As such, they are endowed with gender and number, and are usually used in common language up to the tenth or twelfth, since they become more complicated from there. It is normal for the ordinals above that point to be replaced with cardinal numbers (thus John XXIII can be said "John twenty-three" instead of "John twenty-third").
Difference Between Ordinal Numbers and Cardinal Numbers
The cardinal numbers are natural numbers that serve to express a quantity, that is, a certain number of things. For example, when we say that we have five fingers on each hand, we are numbering them and therefore using cardinal numbers to express the total number of fingers counted: five (5) In each hand, ten (10) total.
However, when it comes to ordering the fingers of the hand and counting them from the thumb to the little finger, we no longer care how many there are, but what order they are in. Thus, we can say that the thumb is the first (1st), the index second (2°), the middle third (3°), the annulment fourth (4th) and the little finger fifth (5th), and for this we have resorted to ordinal numbers, since they serve to express order and sequence, instead of total quantity.
How are ordinal numbers written?
Ordinal numbers are written using a sign that accompanies them and distinguishes them from cardinal numbers: the degree sign (°). So, for example, the number one (1) becomes the first (1°). It is possible that this symbol is replaced by a letter "a" in voladato (a) when it is necessary to distinguish the feminine gender from the referent: first (1a).
On the other hand, the names of ordinal numbers are formed through the use of suffixes specific, which serve to express a notion of a given quantity. These suffixes have changed a lot throughout the history of the language and that is why they can seem strange to us today. The main suffixes are:
- -ero/era, used in the first of the ordinals, as in first (1°) either third (3°).
- -to/ta, the most common of the suffixes among the ordinals, as in fifth (5°) or sixth (6°).
- -eno/ena, incorporated in medieval Spanish but lost except in the case of nineth (9°).
- -avo/ava, used only for fractional numbers. For example: a fourteenth (1/14).
- –th/th, used only for ordinal tens: tenth (10°), twentieth (20°), and so on.
In addition, sometimes ordinal adjectives can be abbreviated and for this the cardinal numbers and the suffix corresponding to the ordinal are used, followed by a period. In this case, the referent's gender needs are also respected. For example: first happens to be 1st., second happens to be 2nd. Y tenth happens to be 10ma.
On the other hand, there are some exceptions to the use of ordinal adjectives, as in the case of first Y third, which, when occupying a position next to a noun, lose their last vowel: “We took the first train of the day” and not “the first train of the day”.
How do you convert a cardinal number to an ordinal number?
This transformation is extremely simple: just add the corresponding ordinal sign (°) next to the cardinal number, to convert it into an ordinal. In case we want to write its name, it is enough to learn the name of the corresponding ordinal.
Ordinal numbers from 1 to 1000
Below we can see the ordinal numbers from 1 to 1000, with their respective name:
| Cardinal number | Ordinal number | Ordinal name (masculine, feminine) |
| 1 | 1° | first, first (sometimes first) |
| 2 | 2° | second, second |
| 3 | 3° | third, third (sometimes third) |
| 4 | 4° | fourth, fourth |
| 5 | 5° | fifth, fifth |
| 6 | 6° | sixth, sixth |
| 7 | 7° | seventh, seventh |
| 8 | 8° | eighth, eighth |
| 9 | 9° | ninth, ninth |
| 10 | 10° | tenth, tenth |
| 11 | 11° | eleventh, eleventh |
| 12 | 12° | twelfth, twelfth |
| 13 | 13° | thirteenth, thirteenth |
| 14 | 14° | fourteenth, fourteenth |
| 15 | 15° | fifteenth, fifteenth |
| 16 | 16° | sixteenth, sixteenth |
| 17 | 17° | seventeenth, seventeenth |
| 18 | 18° | eighteenth, eighteenth |
| 19 | 19° | nineteenth, nineteenth |
| 20 | 20° | twentieth, twentieth |
| 21 | 21° | twenty-first, twenty-first |
| 22 | 22° | twenty second, twenty second |
| 23 | 23° | twenty-third, twenty-third |
| 24 | 24° | twenty-fourth, twenty-fourth |
| 25 | 25° | twenty-fifth, twenty-fifth |
| 26 | 26° | twenty-sixth, twenty-sixth |
| 27 | 27° | twenty-seventh, twenty-seventh |
| 28 | 28° | twenty-eighth, twenty-eighth |
| 29 | 29° | twenty-ninth, twenty-ninth |
| 30 | 30° | thirtieth, thirtieth |
| 40 | 40° | fortieth, fortieth |
| 50 | 50° | fiftieth, fiftieth |
| 60 | 60° | sixtieth, sixtieth |
| 70 | 70° | seventieth, seventieth |
| 80 | 80° | eightieth, eightieth |
| 90 | 90° | ninetieth, ninetieth |
| 100 | 100° | hundredth, hundredth |
| 200 | 200° | two hundredth, two hundredth |
| 300 | 300° | three hundredth, three hundredth |
| 400 | 400° | four hundredth, four hundredth |
| 500 | 500° | fiftieth, fiftieth |
| 600 | 600° | sixtieth, sixtieth |
| 700 | 700° | seven hundredth, seven hundredth |
| 800 | 800° | eight hundredth, eight hundredth |
| 900 | 900° | nine hundredth, nine hundredth |
| 1000 | 1000° | thousandth, thousandth |