Ordinal Numbers

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Numeri ordinali

Ordinal numbers are essential for lists: they denote the rank, position, or order of items in a group, whether that group is made up of people, objects, or things to do.

Per esempio…

Aberto è al secondo posto e Lucio al quinto.		Aberto is in second place, and Lucio is in fifth.
La prima cosa da fare è scegliere un presidente.		The first thing we need to do is choose a chairperson.

Italian ordinal numbers

	masc	fem		abbreviations
first	primo	prima		1st	1°	1ª
second	secondo	seconda		2nd	2°	2ª
third	terzo	terza		3rd	3°	3ª
fourth	quarto	quarta		4th	4°	4ª
fifth	quinto	quinta		5th	5°	5ª
sixth	sesto	sesta		6th	6°	6ª
seventh	settimo	settima		7th	7°	7ª
eighth	ottavo	ottava		8th	8°	8ª
ninth	nono	nona		9th	9°	9ª
tenth	decimo	decima		10th	10°	10ª

Starting with 11th, Italian ordinals are based on their corresponding cardinal number: drop the final vowel and add the suffix –esimo / –esima.

cardinal	drop vowel	add –esimo	-esima
undici	undic-	undicesimo	undicesima
ventidue	ventidu-	ventiduesimo	ventiduesima
cento	cent-	centesimo	centesima

 Notes

Like regular Italian adjectives, masculine singular ordinal numbers end in –o and feminine singular end in –a.

In addition, all Italian ordinal numbers have masculine and feminine plural forms that end in –i and –e, respectively:

masc plural	fem plural
primi	prime
decimi	decime
undicesimi	undicesime
centesimi	centesime

 Most Italian ordinal numbers are identical to their corresponding fractions.

 If you have trouble remembering the difference between ordinal and cardinal numbers, try this mnemonic:

• ordinals are for ordering
• cardinals are for counting cards

 Related lessons

• Dates
• Adjectives
• Cardinal numbers
• Fractions
   

 En español

• Números ordinales
   

 En français

• Adjectifs numéraux ordinaux
   

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