Ordinal numbers indicate the order of a noun, e.g., first, second, third, etc. Ordinal numbers are adjectives. Therefore, they agree in gender and grammatical case with the noun they modify.
Ordinal Numbers 1–10
Here are the ordinal numbers in singular form from 1 to 10.
| Cardinal | Ordinal – Masculine | Ordinal – Feminine | |
| 1 | واحِــد wāḥid one | أَوَّل ’awwal first | أولـى ’ūlā first |
| 2 | اِثْـنـانِ ithnān two | ثـانـي thānī second | ثـانـيَـة thāniyah second |
| 3 | ثَـلاثَـة thalāthah three | ثـالِـث thālith third | ثـالِـثَـة thālithah third |
| 4 | أَرْبَـعَـة ’arba‘ah four | رابِـع rābi‘ fourth | رابِـعَـة rābi‘ah fourth |
| 5 | خَـمْـسَة khamsah five | خـامِـس khāmis fifth | خـامِـسَـة khāmisah fifth |
| 6 | سِـتَّــة sittah six | سـادِس sādis sixth | سـادِسَـة sādisah sixth |
| 7 | سَـبْـعَـة sab‘ah seven | سـابِـع sābi‘ seventh | سـابِـعَـة sābi‘ah seventh |
| 8 | ثَـمانِـيَـة thamāniyah eight | ثـامِـن thāmin eighth | ثـامِـنَـة thāminah eighth |
| 9 | تِـسْـعَـة tis‘ah nine | تـاسِـع tāsi‘ ninth | تـاسِـعَـة tāsi‘ah ninth |
| 10 | عَـشَـرَة ‘asharah ten | عـاشِـر ‘āshir tenth | عـاشِـرَة ‘āshirah tenth |
The ordinal numbers أَوَّل (’awwal) ‘first-masculine’ and أولـى (’ūlā) ‘first-feminine’ have a plural form:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
| Singular | أَوَّل ’awwal | أولـى ’ūlā |
| Plural | أَوائِـل (or) أُوَل ’awā’il (or) ’uwal | |
Ordinal Numbers 11–99
For ordinal numbers 11–99, the units 1–9 are treated as ordinals, while the tens are expressed in their cardinal form. For example:
| الْـيَـوْمُ الـثّـانـي عَـشَـر al-yawmu -th-thānī-‘ashar the 12th day | الـلَّـيْـلَـةُ الـثـالِـثـةَ عَـشْـرَةَ al-laylatu -th-thālithata-‘ashrah the 13th night |
| الْأُسْـبـوعُ الـرابِـعُ وَالـعِـشْـرونَ al-’usbū‘u -r-rābi‘u wa-l-‘ishrūn the 24th week | الـسَّـنَـةُ الـخـامِـسَـةُ والـسَّـبْـعـونَ as-sanatu -l-khāmisatu wa-s-sab‘ūn the 75th year |
| الـذِّكْـرى الـسّـادِسَـةُ وَالـثَّـمـانـونَ adh-dhikrā -s-sādisatu wa-th-thamānūn the 86th anniversary | الْـحَـلَـقَـةُ الـتّـاسِـعَـةُ وَالـتِّـسْـعـونَ al-ḥalaqatu -t-tāsi‘atu wa-t-tis‘ūn the 99th episode |
The exception occurs for numbers where the units digit is 1, i.e., 11, 21, 31, …, 91. Instead of أَوَّل (’awwal) and أولـى (’ūlā), we use حـادي (ḥādī) and حـادِيَـة (ḥādiyah) for masculine and feminine genders, respectively. For example:
| الْـيَـوْمُ الـحـادي عَـشَـر al-yawmu -l-ḥādī-‘ashar the 11th day | الـلَّـيْـلَـةُ الـحـادِيَـةُ والـعِـشْـرونَ al-laylatu -l-ḥādiyatu wa-l-‘ishrūn the 21st night |
| الْأُسْـبـوعُ الـحـادي وَالـتِّـسْـعـونَ al-’usbū‘u -l-ḥādī wa-t-tis‘ūn the 91st week | الـسَّـنَـةُ الـحـادِيَـةُ والْأَرْبَـعـونَ as-sanatu -l- ḥādiyatu wa-l-’arba‘ūn the 41st year |
Ordinal Numbers 100 and Beyond
For numbers 100 and beyond, ordinal numbers are formed by using the cardinal form of the number. For example:
| الـيَـوْمُ الـخَـمْـسُـمِـئَـة al-yawmu -l-khamsumi’ah the 500th day | الـحَـلَـقَـةُ الـمِـئَـةُ وَالـتِّـسْـعـونَ al-ḥalaqatu -l-mi’atu wa-t-tis‘ūn the 190th episode |
Telling The Time
One of the primary uses of ordinal numbers in Arabic is telling the time. When stating the time, feminine ordinal numbers are used for the hours. However, for “one o’clock,” the cardinal number is used instead of the ordinal form. On the other hand, cardinal numbers are used for minutes and seconds. For example:
| الـسّـاعَـةُ الـواحـدَةُ وَواحِـدٌ وَثَـلاثـونَ دَقـيـقَـة as-sā‘atu -l-wāḥidatu wa-wāḥidun wa-thalāthūna daqīqah 1:31 | الـسّـاعَـةُ الـثّـانِـيَـةُ وَسَـبْـعَ عَـشْـرَةَ دَقـيـقَـة as-sā‘atu -th-thāniyatu wa-sab‘a ‘ashrata daqīqah 2:17 |
| الـسّـاعَـةُ الـثّـالِـثَـةُ وَواحِـدٌ وَعِـشْـرونَ دَقـيـقَـة as-sā‘atu -th-thālithatu wa-wāḥidun wa-‘ishrūna daqīqah 3:21 | الـسّـاعَـةُ الـسّـابِـعَـةُ وَأَرْبَـعٌ وَأَرْبَـعـونَ دَقـيـقَـة as-sā‘atu -s-sābi‘atu wa-’arba‘un wa-’arba‘ūna daqīqah 7:44 |
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). For example:
| الـسّـاعَـةُ الـرّابِـعَةُ وَالـرُّبُـعُ as-sā‘atu -r-rābi‘atu wa-r-rubu‘ 4:15 | الـسّـاعَـةُ الـخـامِـسَـةُ وَالـنِّـصْـفُ as-sā‘atu -l-khāmisatu wa-n-niṣf 5:30 |
| الـسّـاعَـةُ الـسّـادِسَـةُ وَالـثُّـلُـث as-sā‘atu -s-sādisatu wa-th-thuluth 6:20 | الـسّـاعَـةُ الـتّـاسِـعَـةُ إِلّا رُبُـع as-sā‘atu -t-tāsi‘atu ’illā rubu‘ 8:45 |
| الـسّـاعَـةُ الـعـاشِـرَةُ إِلّا ثُـلُـث as-sā‘atu -l-‘āshiratu ’illā thuluth 9:40 | الـسّـاعَـةُ الـحـادِيَـةَ عَـشْـرَةَ إِلّا خَـمْـسَ دَقـائِـق as-sā‘atu -l-ḥadiyata ‘ashrata ’illā khamsa daqā’iq 10:55 |
To ask about time, we use one of the following two expressions:
| كَـمِ الـسّـاعَـةُ؟ kam (i) -s-sā‘ah? What is the hour? | كَـمِ الـوَقْـتُ؟ kam (i) -l-waqt? What is the time? |
To say “it is … o’clock,” we can use إِنَّـهـا (’innahā) ‘it is.’ There are no direct equivalents of a.m. and p.m. in Arabic. Instead, we can use specific time-of-day indicators, such as:
| إِنَّـهـا الـسّـاعَـةُ الـسّـابِـعَـةُ صَـبـاحًـا٠ ’innahā -s-sā‘atu -s-sābi‘atu ṣabāḥan. It is 7 o’clock in the morning. | إِنَّـهـا الـسّـاعَـةُ الـواحِـدَةُ ظُـهْـرًا٠ ’innahā -s-sā‘atu -l-wāḥidatu ẓuhran. It is 1 o’clock in the afternoon. |
| إِنَّـهـا الـسّـاعَـةُ الـثّـالِـثَـةُ فَـجْـرًا٠ ’innahā -s-sā‘atu -th-thālithatu fajran. It is 3 o’clock at dawn. | إِنَّـهـا الـسّـاعَـةُ الـسّـادِسَـةُ مَـسـاءً٠ ’innahā -s-sā‘atu -s-sādisatu masā’an. It is 6o’clock in the evening. |
| إِنَّـهـا الـسّـاعَـةُ الـعـاشِـرَةُ لَـيْـلًا٠ ’innahā -s-sā‘atu -l-‘āshiratu laylan. It is 10 o’clock at night. | إِنَّـهـا حَـوالَي الـسّـاعَـةُ الـرّابِـعَـة٠ ’innahā ḥawālay (i) -s-sā‘atu -r-rābi‘ah. It is about 4 o’clock. |
| إِنَّـهـا الـسّـاعَـةُ الـتّـاسِـعَـةُ تَـمـامًـا٠ ’innahā -s-sā‘atu -t-tāsi‘atu tamāman. It is exactly 9 o’clock. | إِنَّـهـا الـسّـاعَـةُ الـخـامِـسَـةُ بِـالـضَّـبْـط٠ ’innahā -s-sā‘atu -l-khāmisatu bi-ḍ-ḍabṭ. It is 5 o’clock sharp. |
Notice that we can drop الـسّـاعَـة (as-sā‘ah) in the expressions above since it is clear that we are referring to time. For example:
| إِنَّـهـا الـسّـابِـعَـةُ صَـبـاحًـا٠ ’innahā -s-sābi‘atu ṣabāḥan. It is 7 in the morning. | إِنَّـهـا الـواحِـدَةُ ظُـهْـرًا٠ ’innahā -l-wāḥidatu ẓuhran. It is 1 in the afternoon. |
Enumerative Ordinals
Enumerative ordinals refer to the use of ordinal numbers in written text to order or list items. For example:
| أَوَّلًا ’awwalan firstly | ثـانِيًـا thāniyan secondly |
| ثـالِـثًـا thālithan thirdly | عـاشِـرًا ‘āshiran tenthly |
Note that the ordinal numbers used for enumerating text in Arabic always end with تَـنْـويـن فَـتْـح (tanwīn fatḥ) ‘double fatḥah,’ i.e., final ‘an’ sound.
Ordinal numbers used for enumeration are always in the masculine singular form in this construction. Enumerative ordinals are used adverbially in this context.
Fractions
With the exception of نِـصْـف (niṣf) ‘half,’ fractions such as “third,” “quarter,” “fifth,” and “tenth” follow the pattern فُـعُـل (fu‘ul) in their singular form, whereas plural fractions, e.g., “thirds,” “quarters,” etc., follow the pattern أَفْـعـال (’af‘āl).
| Singular | Plural | |
| 1/2 | نِـصْـف niṣf | أَنْـصـاف ’anṣāf |
| 1/3 | ثُـلُـث thuluth | أَثْـلاث ’athlāth |
| 1/4 | رُبُـع rubu‘ | أَرْبـاع ’arbā‘ |
| 1/5 | خُـمُـس khumus | أَخْـمـاس ’akhmās |
| 1/6 | سُـدُس sudus | أَسْـداس ’asdās |
| 1/7 | سُـبُـع subu‘ | أَسْـبـاع ’asbā‘ |
| 1/8 | ثُـمُـن thumun | أَثْـمـان ’athmān |
| 1/9 | تُـسُـع tusu‘ | أَتْـسـاع ’atsā‘ |
| 1/10 | عُـشُـر ‘ushur | أَعْـشـار ’a‘shār |
Here are more examples:
| ثُـلُـثـان thuluthān two thirds (2/3) | ثَـلاثَـةُ أَرْبـاع thalāthatu ’arbā‘ three quarters (3/4) | سَـبْـعَـةُ أَثْـمـان sab‘atu ’athmān seven eighths (7/8) |
Notice that ثُـلُـثـان (thuluthān) ‘2/3’ takes the dual form in Arabic. Fractions beyond that are expressed using the preposition عَـلـى (‘alā) ‘on/over,’ e.g., ثَـلاثَـة عَـلـى سِـتّـةَ عَـشَـر (thalāthah ‘alā sittata ‘ashar) ‘3/16.’
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