Ordinal Numbers in Swedish

In Brief

Swedish ordinal numbers show position in a sequence: första “first,” andra “second,” tredje “third,” and fjärde “fourth.” They normally come before a noun, often in the pattern den/det/de + ordinal + definite noun: den första dagen (“the first day”). You also need them for dates, floors, chapters, competitions, and numbered rulers.

Overview

A cardinal number tells you how many: tre böcker means “three books.” An ordinal number tells you where something comes in an order: den tredje boken means “the third book.” In grammar terms, an ordinal usually works like an adjective (a word that describes a noun), but Swedish ordinal forms change much less than ordinary adjectives do.

Ordinal numbers belong to the A1 foundation because they appear in very practical situations: saying a date, finding an apartment, following instructions, or talking about a first experience. The first few forms are irregular and must be learned individually. Once you reach the teens, the system becomes much more predictable.

English and Swedish use ordinals in many of the same situations, but the noun phrase is built differently. English says “the third attempt,” while Swedish normally marks definiteness in several places: det tredje försöket. Notice det, the ordinal, and the definite ending -et on försöket.

How It Works

The essential forms

The forms from first to twelfth are worth memorizing as a group.

Number	Swedish ordinal	English
1st	första	first
2nd	andra	second
3rd	tredje	third
4th	fjärde	fourth
5th	femte	fifth
6th	sjätte	sixth
7th	sjunde	seventh
8th	åttonde	eighth
9th	nionde	ninth
10th	tionde	tenth
11th	elfte	eleventh
12th	tolfte	twelfth

Several spellings cannot be produced simply by adding an ending to the cardinal number. Compare fyra with fjärde, sex with sjätte, and nio with nionde. Learn the ordinal as a separate vocabulary item rather than trying to improvise it.

From thirteen onward

Most numbers from 13 through 19 take -de. Multiples of ten have their own predictable forms, usually ending in -onde.

Number	Swedish ordinal	Number	Swedish ordinal
13th	trettonde	20th	tjugonde
14th	fjortonde	30th	trettionde
15th	femtonde	40th	fyrtionde
16th	sextonde	50th	femtionde
17th	sjuttonde	60th	sextionde
18th	artonde	70th	sjuttionde
19th	nittonde	80th	åttionde
100th	hundrade	1,000th	tusende

For a compound ordinal, only the final part is ordinal: tjugoett (“twenty-one”) becomes tjugoförsta (“twenty-first”), and trettiotvå becomes trettioandra. Swedish normally writes these compounds as one word.

Cardinal	Ordinal
tjugoett (21)	tjugoförsta (21st)
tjugotvå (22)	tjugoandra (22nd)
trettiofyra (34)	trettiofjärde (34th)
hundraett (101)	hundraförsta (101st)

Before a definite noun

The standard pattern is:

den/det/de + ordinal + noun in the definite form

Use den with an en noun, det with an ett noun, and de with a plural noun.

Pattern	Swedish	English
den + ordinal + definite en noun	den första dagen	the first day
det + ordinal + definite ett noun	det tredje försöket	the third attempt
de + ordinal + definite plural	de fem första minuterna	the first five minutes

A noun is “definite” when it points to a specific item—the equivalent of using “the.” Swedish usually expresses this with an ending, as in dag → dagen and försök → försöket. That is why den tredje försök is incomplete: the noun also needs its definite form.

Names and some fixed expressions do not follow the ordinary noun pattern. For example, Swedish says första gången (“the first time”) without den, and headings often use forms such as första kapitlet (“chapter one/the first chapter”). Learn frequent expressions as whole phrases.

With an indefinite noun

An ordinal can also introduce one item without identifying it as “the” item:

• ett första försök — a first attempt
• en andra chans — a second chance
• ett tredje alternativ — a third alternative

Here en or ett means “a/an,” and the noun remains indefinite: försök, not försöket. The meaning is often “one initial/alternative item among possible others.” Compare ett första steg (“a first step”) with det första steget (“the first step”).

Dates

In a fully spoken date, Swedish commonly uses den + ordinal + month:

• den tredje april — the third of April / April third
• den tjugoförsta juni — the twenty-first of June
• I dag är det den första maj. — Today is the first of May.

The month normally has no preposition corresponding to English “of.” In ordinary writing, dates are often shown with digits, such as 3 april or 2026-04-03, even though the day number is read aloud as an ordinal.

Floors and sequence labels

Use the ordinal before våningen when describing a floor: Jag bor på fjärde våningen. Swedish buildings may label the entrance level as bottenvåningen (“the ground floor”), so check the actual signage rather than relying only on English floor-number habits.

Ordinals also identify installments and positions: andra delen (“the second part”), tredje kapitlet (“the third chapter”), and femte plats (“fifth place”). In labels and headings, Swedish often omits den/det, especially when the phrase functions more like a title than a complete definite noun phrase.

Examples in Context

Swedish	English	Note
Det här är min första dag på jobbet.	This is my first day at work.	Possessive min replaces den.
Vi ses den andra september.	We’ll see each other on the second of September.	Date with den + ordinal.
Det tredje försöket lyckades.	The third attempt succeeded.	Ett noun: det … försöket.
Jag bor på fjärde våningen.	I live on the fourth floor.	Common floor expression.
Hon kom på femte plats.	She came in fifth place.	Position in a competition.
Ta den sjätte dörren till vänster.	Take the sixth door on the left.	An instruction in a sequence.
Det är första gången jag är i Sverige.	It is the first time I have been in Sweden.	Fixed pattern without den.
Vi behöver en andra plan.	We need a second plan.	Indefinite: another plan.
Han fick en andra chans.	He got a second chance.	Common expression.
Läs det åttonde kapitlet till fredag.	Read the eighth chapter by Friday.	Ett noun in the definite form.
Mötet är den tjugoförsta juni.	The meeting is on the twenty-first of June.	Compound ordinal, written together.
De tre första frågorna är lätta.	The first three questions are easy.	Cardinal quantity plus ordinal.
Sverige slutade tvåa i gruppen.	Sweden finished second in the group.	A ranking word rather than an attributive ordinal.
Carl XVI Gustaf blev kung 1973.	Carl XVI Gustaf became king in 1973.	XVI is read den sextonde in the name.

Common Mistakes

Using a cardinal where an ordinal is needed

• Wrong: den tre dagen
• Right: den tredje dagen
• Why: Tre answers “how many?”; tredje answers “which position?”

Leaving the noun indefinite after den or det

• Wrong: det tredje försök
• Right: det tredje försöket
• Why: In the regular definite pattern, Swedish marks the phrase both before the ordinal and on the noun.

Copying English date structure

• Wrong: den femte av juni for an ordinary date
• Right: den femte juni
• Why: Standard Swedish dates normally place the month directly after the ordinal. Constructions with av can occur in other partitive contexts, but they are not the basic date pattern.

Adding the ending mechanically

• Wrong: fyrade, sexte, niode
• Right: fjärde, sjätte, nionde
• Why: Several common ordinals change their stem or spelling. Memorize the forms through tolfte.

Writing compound ordinals as separate words

• Wrong: tjugo första juni
• Right: tjugoförsta juni
• Why: Swedish compound numbers are normally written as one word. In de tjugo första sidorna, however, tjugo is a separate quantity: “the first twenty pages.”

Translating “second” without checking its meaning

• Wrong: en andra when you mean one unit of time
• Right: en sekund
• Why: English “second” can be an ordinal or a unit of time. Swedish keeps andra and sekund separate.

Usage Notes

Andra and andre

For beginners, andra is the safe general form for “second”: den andra dagen, det andra huset, min andra lärare. Modern Swedish uses it regardless of the noun’s grammatical gender.

You may also meet andre, especially before a male person or in formal and traditional wording: Gustav den andre Adolf. This is a surviving masculine form. It is not required in ordinary modern speech, and andra is widely used for male referents too. A similar traditional masculine förste occurs in titles and formal expressions, such as förste vice ordförande (“first vice-chair”).

Ordinals do not usually agree like ordinary adjectives

An ordinary Swedish adjective may change with an en noun, an ett noun, or a plural noun. Most ordinals stay the same:

• den tredje dagen
• det tredje året
• de tredje försöken

The surrounding article and noun show number and definiteness. The ordinal itself normally remains unchanged.

Rankings in conversational Swedish

When saying how someone finished in a race or competition, Swedish often uses noun-like ranking forms: etta (“number one/winner”), tvåa (“second”), trea (“third”), and so on. Thus Hon kom tvåa is more idiomatic than building a phrase directly on andra. By contrast, hon kom på andra plats (“she came in second place”) uses the regular ordinal.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Use

You do not need to master these details at A1, but they explain forms you will encounter in news, history, and formal writing.

Monarchs, popes, and Roman numerals

Roman numerals after a ruler’s name are read as ordinals. Carl XVI Gustaf is read Carl den sextonde Gustaf. Historical names may preserve the masculine forms förste and andre, but later ordinals generally have their usual form. Roman numerals also occur in institutional names and numbered events, where local reading conventions depend on the full name.

Ordinals used as nouns

An ordinal can stand without a following noun when the missing noun is clear:

• Jag tar den första. — I’ll take the first one.
• Den tredje var bäst. — The third one was best.
• Hon kom först. — She came first.

The last example uses först, an adverb (a word that describes when or in what order an action happens), not första. Compare den första löparen (“the first runner”) with löparen kom först (“the runner came first”). Similar adverbial forms include för det första (“firstly”) and för det andra (“secondly”), which organize an argument.

Possessives and the missing definite article

After a possessive such as min (“my”) or a name in the genitive (the form showing ownership, usually ending in -s), Swedish does not add den/det:

• min första bil — my first car
• Annas andra bok — Anna’s second book
• vårt tredje möte — our third meeting

The noun is also in its indefinite form. This is part of the broader Swedish possessive pattern, not a special exception limited to ordinals.

Related forms are not always ordinals

Words such as hälft (“half”), tredjedel (“third”), and fjärdedel (“quarter/fourth”) express fractions. They are historically and visibly related to numbers, but they behave as nouns: en tredjedel av kakan means “one third of the cake.” Keep this separate from position: den tredje kakan is “the third cake.”

Practice Tips

1. Learn the irregular core aloud. Recite första, andra, tredje, fjärde through tolfte, then cover the list and reconstruct it. Pay special attention to fjärde, sjätte, åttonde, elfte, and tolfte.
2. Turn real numbers into phrases. Read calendar dates as den …, identify pages as den … sidan, and describe floors as … våningen. This connects the form to a purpose instead of leaving it as a number list.
3. Practice complete noun phrases. Alternate en första dag with den första dagen, and ett tredje försök with det tredje försöket. This trains the article and noun ending together with the ordinal.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Numbers and Time — review cardinal numbers, dates, and basic time expressions before building ordinal forms.