Ordinal numbers in Spanish: How to write and use them (2024)

In Spanish, ordinal numbers are adjectives that express the order of an element in an ordered series. They are the equivalent to the English words first, second, third, and so on. Here is a table with the most important ordinals in Spanish (you can see the complete list below):

Gender and number

Unlike cardinal numbers, the Spanish ordinals are adjectives and, as such, they must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. The feminine form is written by replacing the -o ending with an -a. The plural form, as usual, ends with an -s. For example:

Apocope

The forms primero and tercero are apocopated (shortened) when they precede a singular masculine noun. The resulting forms are primer and tercer respectively. This is true even if there’s another word in between:

Su tercer marido fue un famoso cirujano plástico.

Aquel fue mi primer gran éxito.

Abbreviations and ordinal indicators

There are two ways of abbreviating the Spanish ordinals: with roman numerals or with arabic numerals followed by an ordinal indicator (º, ª or ^er, which may or may not be underlined):

Notice the dots between the numbers and the ordinal indicators. As in all abbreviations (but not acronyms or symbols), this dot is required. In practice, however, it isn’t used very often, even in formal texts.

Arabic numerals are the most frequent. Roman numerals are used mainly in the following cases (always after the noun, except in the last case):

• To name centuries: Siglo XX (20th century).
• In the series of popes, emperors or monarchs: Benedicto XVI.
• To enumerate books, volumes, chapters, etc., that compose a literary work: Capítulo III (chapter III).
• For recurring events such as congresses, festivals, etc.: La XXIII edición del Festival de San Sebastián (the 23rd edition of the San Sebastián Film Festival).

In the last two cases, arabic numerals can also be used (capítulo 3º, 23ª edición).

How to type the ordinal indicators: º, ª

If your keyboard doesn’t have the characters º and ª, some of these shortcuts may work:

The complete list of Spanish ordinal numbers

Ordinals greater than 10.º are rarely used in day-to-day speech. Instead, we use simple cardinal numbers. For example, instead of duodécimo piso (twelfth floor), the usual expression is simply piso doce.

If, anyway, you want to learn them, here is the complete list:

In order to form compound ordinals, just write out the simple ordinal for each digit from left to right. For example, 2345.º would be dosmilésimo tricentésimo cuadragésimo quinto. If the numeral is feminine, each word must be expressed as a feminine ordinal separately. So, 2345.ª is written dosmilésima tricentésima cuadragésima quinta. The same happens with plural forms: las 31^as (trigésimas primeras) Olimpiadas (the 31st Olympics).

Numerals between 13.º and 29.º can also be written as two separate words: décimo cuarto, vigésimo quinto, etc.

Alternative numeral forms

Some ordinals have alternative forms, which are also considered correct:

It’s a common error to use fractional numerals (lower than 1/10) as if they were ordinals (e.g., el catorceavo piso instead of el decimocuarto piso). This is not acceptable in any case.

There is also the word enésimo, which is used to express “some very high indeterminate ordinal”:

¡Por enésima vez, no hagas eso!

Example sentences

Here are some Spanish sentences using ordinal numbers:

Vivo en el segundo.

Hubo dos guerras mundiales en la primera mitad del siglo XX (veinte).

La protección social puede ayudar a reducir la pobreza en la tercera edad.

Felipe V (quinto), el nieto de Luis XIV (catorce), nació en el Palacio de Versalles.

El seminario tendrá lugar del primero de mayo al 8 (ocho) de junio.

Los tres primeros capítulos son muy interesantes.

The above examples illustrate some important points:

• As any other adjective in Spanish, ordinals can be used as nouns (vivo en el segundo). When they modify a noun, they can follow or (more frequently) precede it.
• In the case of series of popes or monarchs, roman numerals are read as ordinals from I to X (primero, …, décimo), and as cardinals from XI and upward (once, doce…).
• Centuries up to 10th can be read either as cardinals or as ordinals (the latter is preferred in formal speech). From 11th and upward, they are always read as cardinals.
• Days of the month are indicated by cardinal numbers, but for the first day of each month the ordinal primero is generally used (with Spain being the exception, where we also use the cardinal uno).
• When an ordinal and a cardinal are used together (as in the first three), the usual order is cardinal + ordinal (los tres primeros).

References

If you can read Spanish, in these articles you’ll find more in-depth information about this subject:

• Article of the RAE's Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas about ordinales (ordinals).
• In-depth article about La Numeración (PDF, 172 KB), by the Spanish linguist and writerJosé Martínez de Sousa. Somewhat dated, compared to the DPD, but still useful.
• From the Instituto Cervantes, about some common mistakes. Also a little outdated (now decimoprimero and decimosegundo are considered acceptable).