Ordinal numbers indicate the order of a noun, e.g., first, second, third, etc. Ordinal numbers are considered adjectives in Palestinian-Jordanian Levantine Arabic.
Table of Contents
- Ordinal Numbers 1–10
- Ordinal Numbers 11 and Beyond
- Enumerative Ordinals
- Fractions
- Telling The Time
- Level IV – Intermediate II (B2)
Ordinal Numbers 1–10
Here are the ordinal numbers in singular form from 1 to 10. Ordinal numbers are adjectives. Therefore, they agree in gender with the noun they modify.
| Cardinal | Ordinal – Masculine | Ordinal – Feminine | |
| 1 | وَاحَـــد wāḥad one | أَوَّل ’awwal first | أُوْلَـــى ’ūla first |
| 2 | اِثْــنِــيــن ithneyn two | ثَـــانِــيْ thāni second | ثَـــانْــيِـــة thānyeh second |
| 3 | ثَــلَاثِــة thalātheh three | ثَـــالِـــث thālith third | ثَـــالْـــثِـــة thāltheh third |
| 4 | أَرْبَــعَــة ’arba‘ah four | رَابِــــع rābi‘ fourth | رَابْــــعَـــة rāb‘ah fourth |
| 5 | خَــمْــسِــة khamseh five | خَـــامِــس khāmis fifth | خَـــامْــسِـــة khāmseh fifth |
| 6 | سِــتِّــة sitteh six | سَـــادِس sādis sixth | سَـــادْسِـــة sādseh sixth |
| 7 | سَــبْــعَــة sab‘ah seven | سَـــابِـــع sābi‘ seventh | سَـــابْـــعَـــة sāb‘ah seventh |
| 8 | ثَــمَـانْــيِــة thamānyeh eight | ثَـــامِـــن thāmin eighth | ثَـــامْـــنِـــة thāmneh eighth |
| 9 | تِــسْــعَــة tis‘ah nine | تَـــاسِـــع tāsi‘ ninth | تَـــاسْـــعَـــة tās‘ah ninth |
| 10 | عَــشَــرَة ‘asharah ten | عَـــاشِـــر ‘āshir tenth | عَـــاشْـــرِة ‘āshreh tenth |
The ordinal numbers أَوَّل (’awwal) ‘first-masculine’ and أُوْلَـــى (’ūla) ‘first-feminine’ have a plural form:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
| Singular | أَوَّل awwal | أُوْلَـــى ’ūla |
| Plural | أَوَائِــــل ’awā’il | |
Ordinal Numbers 11 and Beyond
For numbers 11 and beyond, ordinal numbers are formed in Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic by using the cardinal form of the number.
Here are some examples:
| اِلـذِّكْـرَى الاِتْــنَــعْــش idh-dhikra -l-itna‘sh the 12th anniversary | اِلْـــمَـــرَّة الْـــوَاحَـــد وعِـــشْــرِيْـــن il-marrah -l-wāḥad u-‘ishrīn the 21st time |
| اِلْأُسْـــبُـــوْع اِلْأَرْبَــعَــة وعِـــشْــرِيْـــن il-’usbū‘ il-’arba‘ah w-‘ishrīn the 24th week | اِلـــسَّـــنِـــة الْــخَــمْـــسِـــة وسَـــبْـــعِـــيْــن is-saneh -l-khamseh w-sab‘īn the 75th year |
| اِلْـــيُــــوم اِلْـــخَــمْــس مِـــيِّـــة il-yowm il-kham(i)s-miyyeh the 500th day | اِلـلِّـــيــلِــة اِلْــمِـــيِّـــة وتِـــسْـــعِـــيْــن il-laeyleh il-miyyeh w-tis‘īn the 190th night |
Enumerative Ordinals
Enumerative ordinals refer to the use of ordinal numbers to order or list items. For example:
| أَوَّلًا ’awwalan firstly | ثَــانِــيًــا thāniyan secondly |
| ثَـــالِــثًــا thālithan thirdly | عَــاشِـــرًا ‘āshiran tenthly |
Ordinal numbers used for enumeration are always in the masculine singular form in this construction. Enumerative ordinals are used adverbially in this context.
Fractions
Fractions such as ‘half,’ ‘third,’ ‘quarter,’ ‘fifth,’ and ‘tenth’ follow the pattern فُــعْــل (fu‘l) in their singular form, whereas plural fractions, e.g., ‘thirds,’ ‘quarters,’ etc., follow the pattern أَفْـعَـال (’af‘āl).
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1/2 | نُــــصّ nuṣṣ | أَنْــصَــاص ’anṣāṣ |
| 1/3 | ثُـــلْـــث thulth | أَثْـــلَاث ’athlāth |
| 1/4 | رُبْـــع rub‘ | أَرْبَـــاع ’arbā‘ |
| 1/5 | خُـــمْـــس khums | أَخْــمَــاس ’akhmās |
| 1/6 | سُــــدْس suds | أَسْـــدَاس ’asdās |
| 1/7 | سُـــبْـــع sub‘ | أَسْــبَــاع ’asbā‘ |
| 1/8 | ثُـــمْـــن thumn | أَثْــمَــان ’athmān |
| 1/9 | تُـــسْـــع tus‘ | أَتْــسَــاع ’atsā‘ |
| 1/10 | عُـــشْـــر ‘ushr | أَعْــشَــار ’a‘shār |
Here are more examples:
| ثُــلْــثِــيــن thultheyn two thirds (2/3) | ثَــلَــثْ تِــرْبَــاع thalath (t) irbā‘ three quarters (3/4) | سَــبْــع تَــثْــمَــان sab‘ (t) athmān seven eighths (7/8) |
Note that ثُــلْــثِــيــن (thultheyn) ‘2/3’ takes the dual form in Arabic. We often use the euphonic ت (t) before fractions in plural form when preceded by a number.
Other fractions are expressed using the preposition عَـلَـى (‘ala) ‘on/over,’ e.g., ثَــلَاثِـــة عَـلَـى سِــتَّــعْــش (thalātheh ‘ala sitta‘sh) ‘3/16.’
Telling The Time
One of the primary uses of ordinal numbers in MSA is telling the time in hours. In Palestinian-Jordanian Arabic, cardinal numbers 1–12 in the feminine form are used instead.
The word اِلــسَّــاعَــة (is-sā‘ah) ‘the hour’ is used to express time in hours. Some Palestinians also pronounce it /is-sey‘ah/ instead of /is-sā‘ah/. The conjunction و (w-) ‘and’ is used to refer to minutes and seconds, if needed.
We can use the fractions ‘half,’ ‘quarter,’ and ‘third’ to tell the time. To say, ‘It is minutes to a certain hour,’ e.g., ‘It’s five to ten,’ we use إِلّا (’illā).
Here are some examples:
| اِلــسَّــاعَــة وَحْـــدِة ونُـــصّ is-sā‘ah wāḥdeh w-nuṣṣ 1:30 | اِلـسَّـاعَـة ثِـنْـتِــيـن وسَـبَـعْـتَـعْـش دَقِــيْــقَـة is-sā‘ah thinteyn w-sab‘ta‘sh daqīqah 2:17 |
| اِلـسَّـاعَـة ثَــلَاثِـة وسَــبْــع دَقَــايِــق is-sā‘ah thalātheh w-sab‘ daqāyiq 3:07 | اِلــسَّــاعَــة اِحْـــدَعْـــش إِلَّا خَــمْــسِــة is-sā‘ah -ḥda‘sh illa khamseh 10:55 |
| اِلــسَّــاعَــة أَرْبَـــعَـــة ورُبْـــــع is-sā‘ah ’arba‘ah w-rub(i)‘ 4:15 | اِلــسَّــاعَــة خَــمْــسِــة وثُـــلْـــث is-sā‘ah khamseh w-thulth 5:20 |
| اِلــسَّــاعَــة عَـــشْـــرَة إِلَّا ثُـــلْـــث is-sā‘ah ‘ashrah ’illa thulth 9:40 | اِلــسَّــاعَــة تِـــسْـــعَــة إِلَّا رُبْـــــع is-sā‘ah tis‘ah ’illa rub(i)‘ 8:45 |
To ask about time, i.e., ‘What time is it?,’ we use the interrogative كَـــم (kam) or قَـــدِّيـــش (qaddeysh) with the word اِلــسَّــاعَــة (is-sā‘ah) or اِلْــوَقْــــت (il-waqt) to refer to the time in general.
| كَـــم اِلــسَّــاعَــة؟ kam is-sā‘ah | كَـــم اِلْـــوَقْــــت؟ kam il-waq(i)t |
| قَـــدِّيـــش اِلــسَّــاعَــة؟ qaddeysh is-sā‘ah | قَـــدِّيـــش اِلْـــوَقْــــت؟ qaddeysh il-waq(i)t |
There are no direct equivalents of a.m. and p.m. in Arabic. Instead, we can use specific time-of-day indicators, such as:
| اِلــسَّــاعَــة سَـــبْـــعَــة الــصُّـــبْـــح is-sā‘ah sab‘ah -ṣ-ṣub(i)ḥ 7 o’clock in the morning | اِلــسَّــاعَــة وَحْـــــدِة الــظُّـــهْـــر is-sā‘ah wāḥdeh -ẓ-ẓuh(u)r 1 o’clock in the afternoon |
| اِلــسَّــاعَــة ثَـــلَاثِـــة الْــفَـــجْـــر is-sā‘ah thalātheh -l-faj(i)r 3 o’clock at dawn | اِلــسَّــاعَــة سِـــتِّـــة الْــمَـــسَـــا is-sā‘ah sitteh -l-masa 6 o’clock in the evening |
| اِلــسَّــاعَــة عَــــشَــــرَة بِـــالــلِّـــيـــل is-sā‘ah ‘asharah bi-l-leyl 10 o’clock at night | اِلــسَّــاعَــة خَــمْــسِــة بِـــالــزَّبْـــط is-sā‘ah -khamseh bi-z-zab(i)ṭ 5 o’clock sharp |
| اِلــسَّــاعَــة تِـــسْـــعَــة تَـــقْــرِيْـــبًـــا is-sā‘ah tis‘ah taqrīban 9 o’clock approximately | حَـــوَالِـــيْ الــسَّــاعَــة أَرْبَـــعَـــة ḥawāli -s-sā‘ah ’arba‘ah around 4 o’clock |
Next: Giving Commands & The Imperative
Other lessons in Level IV: