Italian 2.7. Ordinal Numbers I

In Italian, ordinal numbers describe the order of a noun. Thus, it is considered an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the noun.

Here are the ordinal numbers in Italian from 1 to 10. Notice the four possible different endings (and the superscript variants) for each ordinal number depending on the gender and number of the noun.

uno, una, un’	1	primo/-a/-i/-e	1.o / 1.a/ 1.i / 1.e
due	2	secondo/-a/-i/-e	2.o / 2.a/ 2.i / 2.e
tre	3	terzo/-a/-i/-e	3.o / 3.a/ 3.i / 3.e
quattro	4	quarto/-a/-i/-e	4.o / 4.a/ 4.i / 4.e
cinque	5	quinto/-a/-i/-e	5.o / 5.a/ 5.i / 5.e
sei	6	sesto/-a/-i/-e	6.o / 6.a/ 6.i / 6.e
sette	7	settimo/-a/-i/-e	7.o / 7.a/ 7.i / 7.e
otto	8	ottavo/-a/-i/-e	8.o / 8.a/ 8.i / 8.e
nove	9	nono/-a/-i/-e	9.o / 9.a/ 9.i / 9.e
dieci	10	decimo/-a/-i/-e	10.o / 10.a/ 10.i / 10.e

Abbreviation

The ordinal numbers are abbreviated as follows:

1. Masculine Singular:

cardinal number + “ . ” + “ ^o ”

e.g., “primo” (1.^o), “quarto” (4.^o).

2. Feminine Singular:

cardinal number + “ . ” + “ ^a ”

e.g., “prima” (1.^a), “nona” (9.^a).

3. Masculine Plural:

cardinal number + “ . ” + “ ⁱ ”

e.g., “primi” (1.ⁱ), “quarti” (4.ⁱ).

4. Feminine Plural:

cardinal number + “ . ” + “ ^e ”

e.g., “prime” (1.^e), “none” (9.^e).

Dates in Italian

Unlike in English, where dates are described using ordinal numbers, e.g., “the 24th of October,” in Italian, dates are expressed using cardinal numbers, e.g., “il 24 (di) ottobre.”

A notable exception is the first day of the month, in which case the ordinal number is used, e.g., “il primo (di) novembre.”

Fractional Numbers

Fractional numbers from third to tenth are the same as the ordinal number, e.g., “un quarto dei giocatori” (a fourth of the players), “un quinto delle risorse” (a fifth of the resources), etc.

To describe the fractional number 1/2 (half), we use the adjective “mezzo” (masculine) or “mezza” (feminine), both of which can be abbreviated as “mezz’” before a vowel, e.g., “mezzo chilo” (half a kilo), “mezz’ora” (half an hour), “mezza dozzina” (half a dozen), etc.

We also use the feminine noun “metà” to describe half the quantity of something, and it is often followed by “di,” e.g., “metà del terreno” (half of the land).

The main difference that you need to remember to distinguish between “mezzo/-a” and “metà” is that the former is often an adjective, whereas the latter is a noun, e.g., “metà della classe” (half of the class), and in a few cases, can be an adverb, e.g., “a metà” (halfway or half-finished).    

In numbers formed by an integer and a fraction, the “un” can be dropped only before 1/2, if preceded by an integer, e.g., 1 ½ (uno e mezzo), 3 ¼ (tre e un quarto), 5 ⅛ (cinque e un ottavo).

We will cover higher ordinal numbers and fractions in Level VI, Lesson 1.

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