Ordinal Numbers in Spanish

In Brief

Spanish ordinal numbers show position in a sequence: primero “first,” segundo “second,” through décimo “tenth.” They normally act like adjectives and match the noun in gender and number: la primera vez, los primeros días. Before a masculine singular noun, primero and tercero shorten to primer and tercer: el primer día, el tercer intento.

Overview

Cardinal numbers tell you how many: uno, dos, tres. Ordinal numbers tell you where something comes in an ordered series: primero, segundo, tercero. They appear in classroom instructions, competitions, floors of buildings, chapters, attempts, anniversaries, and everyday expressions such as por primera vez (“for the first time”).

This is an A1 topic because the essential list is only first through tenth. However, Spanish ordinals do more grammatical work than their English equivalents. An ordinal usually behaves as an adjective (a word that describes a noun). A noun is a word for a person, place, thing, or idea, such as día, puerta, or ocasión. The ordinal must usually show agreement—that is, its ending changes to match the noun’s grammatical gender and whether the noun is singular or plural.

English “first” stays unchanged in “the first day,” “the first week,” and “the first days.” Spanish uses el primer día, la primera semana, and los primeros días. Learning the ordinal together with a noun and its article—el segundo piso, la segunda planta—makes the agreement pattern easier to remember.

How It Works

The ordinals from first to tenth

The basic masculine singular form is traditionally used as the dictionary form. Change final -o to -a for a feminine noun.

Position	Masculine	Feminine	English
1st	primero	primera	first
2nd	segundo	segunda	second
3rd	tercero	tercera	third
4th	cuarto	cuarta	fourth
5th	quinto	quinta	fifth
6th	sexto	sexta	sixth
7th	séptimo	séptima	seventh
8th	octavo	octava	eighth
9th	noveno	novena	ninth
10th	décimo	décima	tenth

The written accents in séptimo and décimo are required. Notice too that the forms are not made by adding one universal ending to the cardinal number: cinco becomes quinto, not an invented form based directly on cinco. It is best to learn the ten ordinals as a set.

Gender and number agreement

Spanish nouns have grammatical gender: they are treated as masculine or feminine. The ordinal copies that gender and also changes for singular or plural number.

Noun pattern	Ordinal ending	Example	English
masculine singular	-o	el cuarto capítulo	the fourth chapter
feminine singular	-a	la cuarta página	the fourth page
masculine plural	-os	los cuartos capítulos	the fourth chapters
feminine plural	-as	las cuartas páginas	the fourth pages

Plural agreement is regular: segundo → segundos, segunda → segundas. The ordinal agrees with the noun, not with the speaker or owner. A man and a woman both say Es mi primera visita because visita is feminine.

Ordinals commonly appear with a definite article—el, la, los, las (“the”)—but the surrounding sentence may call for a possessive or another determiner instead: mi primer trabajo (“my first job”), su segunda pregunta (“his/her/their second question”), cada tercer día (“every third day”).

The short forms primer and tercer

Before a masculine singular noun, primero loses its final -o and becomes primer. The same happens to tercero, which becomes tercer. This shortening is called apocope (the loss of a sound or letters at the end of a word).

Position	Use	Correct example
directly before a masculine singular noun	short form	el primer tren, el tercer mes
after the noun	full form	el capítulo primero, el capítulo tercero
used alone in the masculine	full form	Llegó primero, Fue el tercero
before a feminine noun	feminine form	la primera clase, la tercera puerta
with a masculine plural noun	plural form	los primeros años, los terceros premios

The noun does not have to follow immediately after the ordinal. The short form still applies if another adjective comes between it and the masculine singular noun: el primer gran éxito (“the first great success”).

Do not shorten other ordinals: el segundo día, el cuarto intento, and el décimo capítulo keep their final -o.

Position before or after the noun

The neutral and most useful beginner pattern places the ordinal before the noun:

• la segunda oportunidad — the second opportunity
• el quinto episodio — the fifth episode
• nuestro primer viaje — our first trip

An ordinal may also follow the noun, especially in labels, formal naming, or when the position is presented as a classification: capítulo segundo, la planta cuarta. Post-noun order is less useful as a default for beginners and can sound formal or marked in some contexts. It also restores the full forms primero and tercero: el capítulo primero, not el capítulo primer.

Using an ordinal without a stated noun

If the noun is clear, Spanish can leave it unstated. The ordinal then keeps the gender and number of the omitted noun:

• ¿Qué puerta? La segunda. — “Which door? The second one.”
• Tomé el primero. — “I took the first one.” The missing masculine noun might be tren or autobús.
• Ana llegó primera. — “Ana arrived first.” Here primera agrees with Ana.

English often uses “one” in this pattern; Spanish normally does not add a word equivalent to “one.”

Examples in Context

Spanish	English	Note
Es la primera vez que visito Madrid.	It is the first time I have visited Madrid.	Feminine singular agreement with vez
Vivimos en el segundo piso.	We live on the second floor.	Masculine singular
Hoy es el tercer día del curso.	Today is the third day of the course.	Tercero shortens before día
Los primeros días fueron difíciles.	The first days were difficult.	Masculine plural agreement
Esta es mi cuarta taza de café.	This is my fourth cup of coffee.	Feminine singular after a possessive
Marta terminó quinta en la carrera.	Marta finished fifth in the race.	The form agrees with Marta
Abra el libro por la sexta página.	Open the book to the sixth page.	Feminine singular agreement
Nos vemos el séptimo día.	We’ll see each other on the seventh day.	Keep the accent in séptimo
El ascensor no llega a la octava planta.	The elevator does not go to the eighth floor.	Planta is feminine
Celebran su décimo aniversario.	They are celebrating their tenth anniversary.	Masculine singular
Perdió por segunda vez.	He/She lost for the second time.	Common expression with por
¿Cuál prefieres? La tercera.	Which one do you prefer? The third one.	The feminine noun is understood
Fue el primer gran éxito del grupo.	It was the group’s first great success.	Primer remains short before an intervening adjective
Leí el capítulo tercero ayer.	I read chapter three yesterday.	Post-noun ordinal; formal label-like order
Somos los segundos de la lista.	We are second on the list.	Plural form referring to a group

Common Mistakes

Keeping the English form unchanged

• Wrong: la primero vez
• Right: la primera vez
• Why: Vez is feminine, so the ordinal must be feminine too. English does not show this agreement, but Spanish does.

Using primero before a masculine singular noun

• Wrong: el primero día
• Right: el primer día
• Why: Before a masculine singular noun, primero shortens to primer. Use the full form when it stands alone: Fue el primero (“He was the first”).

Shortening tercero in the wrong place

• Wrong: la tercer semana; el capítulo tercer
• Right: la tercera semana; el capítulo tercero
• Why: Tercer is used only before a masculine singular noun. Feminine nouns require tercera, and a following ordinal uses the full form.

Forgetting plural agreement

• Wrong: los primer días
• Right: los primeros días
• Why: The short form primer is singular. With a plural noun, use primeros.

Dropping written accents

• Wrong: septimo, decimo
• Right: séptimo, décimo
• Why: Both words require a written accent. Their feminine and plural forms keep it: séptima, séptimos, décimas.

Translating numbered labels too literally

• Awkward in many everyday contexts: el vigésimo tres capítulo
• Natural: el capítulo veintitrés
• Why: Spanish often uses a cardinal number after the noun for higher numbered chapters, pages, rooms, and similar labels. If you use a true compound ordinal, it needs its proper form, such as el vigésimo tercer capítulo.

Usage Notes

Floors can be culturally confusing

Both piso and planta can refer to a floor or story of a building. In much of the Spanish-speaking world, the street-level floor is la planta baja or la planta principal, and el primer piso may be one level above it. Naming practices vary by country and building, just as British and American English differ over “first floor.” Check the elevator buttons or ask ¿En qué planta está? rather than relying only on an English floor number.

Dates usually use cardinal numbers

For the first day of a month, primero is common: el primero de mayo (“May 1”). In some regions, especially in Spain, el uno de mayo is also used. Other dates normally use cardinal numbers: el dos de mayo, el diez de junio, not el segundo de mayo or el décimo de junio in ordinary date telling.

Ordinals above tenth are less frequent in everyday speech

Spanish has ordinals beyond décimo, but speakers often choose a cardinal number in labels and references: el capítulo quince, la página treinta, el siglo veintiuno. This does not make higher ordinals incorrect. Forms such as undécimo (“eleventh”), duodécimo (“twelfth”), and vigésimo (“twentieth”) remain useful in formal rankings, anniversaries, legal language, and established titles.

Some forms have other meanings

Several ordinal forms are also ordinary nouns or adjectives. Un cuarto can mean “a quarter” or “a room”; segundo can mean “second” as a unit of time; décimo can mean “a tenth.” Context tells you whether the word marks order, a fraction, time, or something else.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master higher ordinals at A1, but you will encounter them later. Eleventh and twelfth have the special forms undécimo/undécima and duodécimo/duodécima. The transparent alternatives decimoprimero and decimosegundo are also accepted. Higher forms include vigésimo (20th), trigésimo (30th), centésimo (100th), and milésimo (1000th).

Compound ordinals can be written as one word or as separate words according to the form and style: decimoprimera or décima primera (“eleventh,” feminine), vigesimotercero or vigésimo tercero (“twenty-third,” masculine). In separately written compounds, each ordinal element agrees with the noun: la vigésima primera edición. In a single-word compound, only the final part shows the feminine ending: la vigesimoprimera edición. Written accents may change when elements join into one word, so higher forms are worth checking in a dictionary when precision matters.

The apocope rule still matters inside compounds placed before masculine singular nouns: el vigésimo primer aniversario and el trigésimo tercer capítulo. By contrast, use full forms when no masculine singular noun follows: Es el vigésimo primero.

Roman numerals often appear with monarchs, popes, congresses, and centuries. With names, lower numerals are commonly read as ordinals: Felipe VI is Felipe sexto. Usage shifts toward cardinal readings for larger numbers, and centuries are normally read with cardinals: el siglo XXI, el siglo veintiuno. These conventions belong to formal reading and naming rather than the core A1 rule.

Finally, word order can create a stylistic difference. Before the noun, an ordinal usually presents the expected sequence: la primera parte. After the noun, it may sound like an official heading or an emphatic classification: parte primera. For normal conversation, putting the ordinal before the noun remains the safest choice.

Practice Tips

1. Learn four forms, not one isolated word. Say a small pattern aloud: segundo, segunda, segundos, segundas. Then attach nouns: segundo piso, segunda puerta.
2. Give primero and tercero special practice. Make pairs such as el primer día / la primera semana and el tercer intento / la tercera vez. This trains both shortening and agreement.
3. Describe a real sequence. Number ten lessons, photos, tasks, or stops in Spanish. Use full phrases rather than a bare list: la primera tarea, la segunda tarea, la tercera tarea. Real nouns force you to choose the correct ending.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Cardinal Numbers — learn uno, dos, tres and other quantity numbers before contrasting them with order.