In French, ordinal numbers are used to express position, rank or items that are in order or sequence unlike cardinal numbers.
- In most cases, ordinal numbers are made by adding suffix-ième to the cardinal numbers. For ex.
| Deux | deuxième |
| trois | troisième |
| six | sixième |
- There’s a difference in some of the spellings of Ordinal Numbers. For ex.
| Cinq | cinquième |
| Neuf | neuvième |
- If the number is ending with “e” then the letter is dropped. For ex.
| Onze | onzième |
| quatre | quatrième |
- There is a difference in using “seconde” and “deuxième“. For ex.
| Deuxième | used when there is more series/numbers ahead. | le deuxième jour. (more days are also in a sequence lke: troisième,etc.) |
| Second | used when only two series are there and you are talking about the second one. | la seconde guerre mondiale. (the second world war and there is no more world war ahead of it) |
- Some numbers that are irregular in ordinal forms are:
| un | premier (does not follow the pattern). |
| deux | seconde (it is acceptable in some contexts). |
- Ordinal numbers are modified as per the gender of the noun.
| le deuxième étage. | la deuxième semaine. |
| le cinquième chapeau. | la troisième chemise. |
- The abbreviated form is written as 1er – Premier, 2e – deuxième, …. etc.