Ordinal numbers
Unlike cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers in Arabic must conform to the gender and case of their head noun, they are inflected for all three cases. They might also be preceded by the definite article الـ. As with any other adjective, the ordinal number follows its corresponding noun in a sentence.
Units
1 to 10:
- 1st is built on the pattern أَفْعَل
- 2nd to 10th are built on the active participle pattern فاعِل.
1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
المُذَكَّر Masculine | أَوَّل | ثانٍ (الثاني) | ثَالِث | رابِع | خامِس | سادِس | سابِع | ثَامِن | تاسِع | عاشِر |
المُؤَنَّث Feminine | أُولى | ثانية | ثَالِثة | رابِعة | خامِسة | سادِسة | سابِعة | ثَامِنة | تاسِعة | عاشِرة |
Examples
| The 3rd world | العالَمُ الثالِثُ |
| I study for the 5th year | أَدْرُسُ لِلسَنةِ الخامِسةِ |
Note: 2nd (ثانٍ) is built on a defective root and 6th (سادِس) is built on different root-letters than 6 (سِتّة).
Note 2: When used with the accusative noun case (مَنْصوب) in the indefinite form (نَكِرة) they can mean firstly, secondly etc…
firstly أَوّلاً secondly ثانيًا thirdly ثالِثًا
11 to 19:
They are all indeclinable, each word ends with the fatḥa. We only put the definite article on the first word to make them definite.
11: we’ll use حادٍ/الحادي instead of أَوّل
12 to 19: composed of the same ordinals used in the units followed by عَشَرَ
المُؤَنَّث Feminine | ألمُذَكَّر Masculine | |
|---|---|---|
الـ)حاديةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)حاديَ عَشَرَ) | 11th |
الـ)الـثانِيةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)ثانِيَ عَشَرَ) | 12th |
الـ)ثالِثةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)ثالِثَ عَشَرَ) | 13th |
الـ)رابِعةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)رابِعَ عَشَرَ) | 14th |
الـ)خامِسةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)خامِسَ عَشَرَ) | 15th |
الـ)سادِسةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)سادِسَ عَشَرَ) | 16th |
الـ)سابِعةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)سابِعَ عَشَرَ) | 17th |
الـ)ثامِنةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)ثامِنَ عَشَرَ) | 18th |
الـ)تاسِعةَ عَشَرةَ) | الـ)تاسِعَ عَشَرَ) | 19th |
Examples
| He’s my 13th son | هو اِبْني الثالِثَ عَشَرَ |
| She’s my 17th daughter | هي اِبْنَتِي السابِعةَ عَشَرةَ |
Tens
Ordinals for tens from 20 to 90 are the same as cardinals except that we put the definite article before. They agree in noun case (إِعْراب) with the noun they qualify (but never in gender).
| العِشْرُونَ | 20th |
| الثَلاثُونَ | 30th |
| الأَرْبَعُونَ | 40th |
| الخَمْسُونَ | 50th |
| السِتُّونَ | 60th |
| السَبْعُونَ | 70th |
| الثَمانِيُونَ | 80th |
| التِسْعُونَ | 90th |
Example:
| السنةُ الثلاثُونَ |
| The 30th year |
We utilize logic similar to cardinal figures to formulate the intermediate numbers. We must align the unit of ordinal before ten (و ties these two words together). Both terms need to correspond regarding noun cases and will require an article if necessary.
| أَعْمَلُ لِلسَنةَ الخامِسةِ والأرْبَعِينَ |
| I am working for the 45th year |
Hundreds and above
Ordinals for hundreds and above are the same as cardinals except that we put the definite article before (same logic as the tens).
| المِئةُ | 100th |
| الألفُ | 1 000th |
| المِئةُ والأَلْفُ | 100 000th |
| الثَلاثُمِئةِ والخامِسةُ والعِشْرون | 325th |
Fractions / الكُسُور
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