Un 9.6
Ordinal Numbers
Once you know all of the numbers in French, which are called ‘cardinal numbers’, it isn’t a big step to describe the ranking or order of things, using ordinal numbers.
Ordinal Numbers – Les nombres ordinaux
Ordinal numbers are used to refer to a ranking or position according to a sequential order.
|
1er / 1ère |
premier(-ière) |
first |
|
2e |
deuxième second(e) |
second (of a series) second (of only two) |
|
3e |
troisième |
third |
|
4e |
quatrième |
fourth |
|
5e |
cinquième |
fifth |
|
6e |
sixième |
sixth |
|
7e |
septième |
seventh |
|
8e |
huitième |
eighth |
|
9e |
neuvième |
ninth |
|
… |
… |
… |
|
21e |
vingt et unième |
twenty-first |
|
30e |
trentième |
thirtieth |
|
40e |
quarantième |
fortieth |
|
81e |
quatre-vingt-unième |
eighty-first |
Only the first two numbers have entirely unique forms that agree with grammatical gender. Other small changes occur at the end of cardinal numbers ending in ‘f’, ‘q’ and ‘e’, prior to the addition of the ordinal ending ‘-ième’. Ordinal numbers are placed in front of their corresponding noun and after any needed article.
e.g.
|
Le premier ministre du Canada réagit à la question. |
The Prime Minister of Canada is reacting to the question. |
|
La Première Guerre mondiale a eu lieu de 1914 à 1918. |
WWI took place between 1914 to 1918. |
|
C’est la troisième fois que tu me demandes cela. |
This is the third time you’ve asked me that. |
When referring to cities in a country, ordinal numbers are often used to refer to a city’s ranking in size, without any reference to a word such as ‘big’.
e.g.
|
Montréal est la deuxième ville du Canada ? |
Montreal’s the second biggest city in Canada? |
Note that WWII is typically referred to as ‘la Seconde Guerre mondiale’, so as to imply that its existence is not within a sequential list.
