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Spanish grammar lessons › Level A2 › Numbers, Time & Date

Ordinal numbers: primero, segundo…

First to tenth, agreement, primer and tercer, and how Spanish reads kings and centuries.

Part of the free A2 Spanish course. Press the speaker next to an example to hear it.

Ordinal numbers give the order of things: first, second, third. Cardinal numbers are the ordinary counting numbers: one, two, three (Numbers 0–20 and phone numbers).

First to tenth

NumberOrdinalNumberOrdinal
1.ºprimero6.ºsexto
2.ºsegundo7.ºséptimo
3.ºtercero8.ºoctavo
4.ºcuarto9.ºnoveno
5.ºquinto10.ºdécimo

Ordinals are adjectives, so they agree with the noun: el segundo día, la segunda semana, los primeros meses, las primeras páginas. They usually go before the noun.

  • Mi hija está en segundo de primaria.My daughter is in Year 2 of primary school.
  • Es la primera vez que viajo sola.It's the first time I've travelled alone.

The abbreviations use a small o or a: 1.º (primero), 1.ª (primera), 3.er (tercer).

Primer and tercer

Before a masculine singular noun, primero and tercero lose their final -o, as you saw in Shortened adjectives: buen, mal, gran, primer:

  • Vivimos en el tercer piso.We live on the third floor.
  • El primer tren sale a las seis.The first train leaves at six.

The feminine never shortens: la primera calle, la tercera planta. Without a noun after them, the full form stays: Soy el primero (I'm first).

After ten

Ordinals above ten exist (undécimo, vigésimo), but they are formal. In everyday Spanish use the cardinal number after the noun: el piso doce, el capítulo quince, la planta veinte.

Kings, popes and centuries

Roman numerals after a name are read as ordinals up to ten, and as cardinals above ten.

  • Felipe VI es el rey de España.Felipe the Sixth is the King of Spain.

Felipe VI is read Felipe sexto; Isabel II is Isabel segunda; Alfonso XIII is Alfonso trece. Centuries are usually read as cardinals: el siglo XXI = el siglo veintiuno.

Dates

Dates use cardinals (Days, months and dates): el dos de mayo. For the first day of the month, Spain mostly says el uno de mayo, and much of Latin America says el primero de mayo. Both are correct.

Common mistakes

  • el primero piso → el primer piso. Shorten before a masculine singular noun.
  • la primer vez → la primera vez. Feminine forms never shorten.
  • nueveno → noveno: it doesn't contain nueve. Write séptimo with p and an accent (the RAE also accepts sétimo, but séptimo is the usual spelling).
  • el treceavo piso → el piso trece. Treceavo is a fraction (a thirteenth part), not an ordinal.
  • Carlos tres → Carlos tercero. Kings up to ten take ordinals.

Practice

  1. Vivo en el _____ piso.
    I live on the first floor.
    Show the answer

    primer — Before a masculine singular noun, primero becomes primer.

  2. Es la _____ vez que visito Granada.
    It's the first time I've visited Granada.
    Show the answer

    primera — Feminine noun (vez): primera, never shortened.

  3. Mi oficina está en la _____ planta.
    My office is on the third floor.
    Show the answer

    tercera

  4. Mi equipo terminó en _____ lugar.
    My team finished in third place.
    Show the answer

    tercer — Lugar is masculine singular, so tercero becomes tercer.

In the app, this lesson is taught one idea at a time with the examples read aloud, followed by questions that explain the rule when you get one wrong. It then comes back for review on later days, until you've answered it correctly on three separate days.
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