Ordinal Numbers

Form

Spelling of Ordinal Numbers

Just add th to the cardinal number:

• four - fourth
• eleven - eleventh

Exceptions:

• one - first
• two - second
• three - third
• five - fifth
• eight - eighth
• nine - ninth
• twelve - twelfth

In compound ordinal numbers, note that only the last figure is written as an ordinal number:

• 421st = four hundred and twenty-first
• 5,111th = five thousand, one hundred and eleventh

Figures

When expressed as figures, the last two letters of the written word are added to the ordinal number:

• first = 1st
• second = 2nd
• third = 3rd
• fourth = 4th
• twenty-sixth = 26th
• hundred and first = 101st

Titles

In names for kings and queens, ordinal numbers are written in Roman numbers. In spoken English, the definite article is used before the ordinal number:

• Charles II - Charles the Second
• Edward VI - Edward the Sixth
• Henry VIII - Henry the Eighth