'Ordinal' and 'cardinal' numbers

You may be wondering what these are. Well, they’re actually just a fancy name that we use to describe different types of numbers. Cardinals are the ones we use to count: 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on. Ordinals are the ones we use when we want to put something in order on a list - for example, ‘she came 4^th in the competition’ - or to express dates, for example, ‘The 5^th of April’.

Cardinals are relatively easy to use - they are something you learn right from the beginning of A1 (beginners) level. Ordinals are less straightforward – but maybe not as complicated as they seem. Mostly, we need to put a ‘th’ at the end of the number. There are only three exceptions to this rule, as follows:

1^st  = first               

2^nd  = second          

3^rd  = third             

This includes when they are at the end of another, larger number, for example:

21^st  =  twenty-first

72^nd  =  seventy-second

93^rd  =  ninety-third

121^st =  one hundred and twenty-first

572^nd =  five hundred and seventy-second

1093^rd =  one thousand and ninety-third.

Another important thing to know about ordinal numbers is that there are some spelling variations. Let’s take a look:

Fifth (not fiveth)

Eighth (not eightth)

Ninth (not nineth)

Twelfth (not twelveth)

Fifteenth (not fiveteenth)

Twentieth (not twentyeth – this also applies to thirtieth, fortieth, fiftieth, all the way up to ninetieth.

Fortieth (not fourtyeth)

Finally, we need to look at dates. It is crucial to note that when we see a date written down as a cardinal number, such as ‘1 January 2025’, we say it as an ordinal number, using ‘The’ and ‘of’. For example, “The first of January 2025”. This goes for any date that you say out loud, for example, “I passed my driving test on the nineteenth of July”.

And that’s it! Almost. The last thing that we surely must talk about is the ‘th’ sound at the end of most ordinal numbers. Many English language learners find this difficult, and so understandably they would rather avoid it. The bad news is that we do really need ordinal numbers (and therefore the ‘th’ sound). It would sound very strange to say, “The 5 of January” or “It’s my 30 birthday”. However, the good news is that if you practise ordinal numbers out loud, you’re learning two vital skills for your everyday English: ordinal numbers and the ‘th’ sound.

If you’d like to find out more about how to correctly pronounce ‘th’, then these videos may help:

BBC Learning English  – Voiceless Consonant - /θ/ - 'thin’, ‘throw’ & 'thumb’

BBC Learning English –Voiced Consonant - /ð/ - 'this', 'other' and 'smooth'

If you would like to go into more detail about the sounds ('phonemes') of the English language, my free course on pronunciation here may also help. Otherwise, there is of course a wealth of information available on the internet.

Please remember though, you do not have to be able to pronounce every sound perfectly – this can just be frustrating and discouraging. Be patient with yourself, learn at your own speed, and do the best you can.

Do you have any questions or comments about numbers, sounds of the English language, or perhaps some other aspect of English learning? If so, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below or contact me.