Ordinal Numbers in Norwegian

Overview

Ordinal numbers — first, second, third — are essential for everyday tasks in Norwegian: talking about dates, giving your address, describing sequences, and navigating buildings with floor numbers. Norwegian ordinals follow a mostly regular pattern with a few important irregularities in the lowest numbers, much like English.

This is an A1 concept that builds on Numbers and Time. Once you know the cardinal numbers (en, to, tre...), forming ordinals is largely a matter of adding the suffix "-de" or "-te." The main challenge is memorizing the irregular first few ordinals and understanding that "andre/annet" agrees with the gender of the noun it modifies.

Ordinals appear frequently in dates (den syttende mai), floor numbers (tredje etasje), and rankings (den første plassen). Learning them early gives you access to practical communication right away.

How It Works

Ordinal Numbers 1-20

Cardinal	Ordinal	English
en/ett	første	first
to	andre / annet	second
tre	tredje	third
fire	fjerde	fourth
fem	femte	fifth
seks	sjette	sixth
sju/syv	sjuende/syvende	seventh
åtte	åttende	eighth
ni	niende	ninth
ti	tiende	tenth
elleve	ellevte	eleventh
tolv	tolvte	twelfth
tretten	trettende	thirteenth
fjorten	fjortende	fourteenth
femten	femtende	fifteenth
seksten	sekstende	sixteenth
sytten	syttende	seventeenth
atten	attende	eighteenth
nitten	nittende	nineteenth
tjue	tjuende	twentieth

The Irregular Ones

The first three ordinals are fully irregular and must be memorized:

Ordinal	Form	Note
1st	første	Completely irregular
2nd	andre (m/f), annet (n)	Changes with gender
3rd	tredje	Irregular

From "fjerde" (4th) onward, the pattern becomes regular: add "-de" or "-te" to the cardinal.

Gender Agreement: "Andre" vs "Annet"

"Second" is the only ordinal that agrees with the noun's gender:

Gender	Form	Example
Masculine	andre	den andre gutten (the second boy)
Feminine	andre	den andre jenta (the second girl)
Neuter	annet	det annet forsøk / det andre forsøket (the second attempt)
Plural	andre	de andre barna (the other children)

Note: "Andre" also means "other" — context determines whether it means "second" or "other."

Using Ordinals with Definite Nouns

Ordinals typically appear in definite noun phrases and follow the double determination pattern:

Norwegian	English
den første dagen	the first day
det andre forsøket	the second attempt
den tredje gangen	the third time
de fire første ukene	the first four weeks

Ordinals in Dates

Norwegian dates use ordinals. The format is "den + ordinal + month":

Norwegian	English
den første januar	the first of January
den syttende mai	the seventeenth of May
den tjuefjerde desember	the twenty-fourth of December

In writing, dates are often abbreviated with a period: 1. januar, 17. mai, 24. desember.

Ordinals for Floors

Norwegian uses ordinals for building floors:

Norwegian	English
første etasje	first floor (ground floor)
andre etasje	second floor
tredje etasje	third floor
Jeg bor i fjerde etasje.	I live on the fourth floor.

Examples in Context

Norwegian	English	Note
Den første dagen på jobb var spennende.	The first day at work was exciting.	Irregular: første
Jeg bor i andre etasje.	I live on the second floor.	Masculine/feminine: andre
Det tredje forsøket var vellykket.	The third attempt was successful.	Irregular: tredje
Jeg bor i fjerde etasje.	I live on the fourth floor.	Regular: fjerde
Vi feirer den syttende mai.	We celebrate the seventeenth of May.	Date: national day
Det er hennes andre barn.	It is her second child.	andre = second
Han kom på femte plass.	He came in fifth place.	Ranking
Den sjette sansen.	The sixth sense.	sjette
Det er for tiende gang.	It is for the tenth time.	Counting occurrences
Møtet er den tjuende juni.	The meeting is the twentieth of June.	Date
Vi tok den første bussen.	We took the first bus.	Selection
Det var min andre gang i Norge.	It was my second time in Norway.	Personal experience

Common Mistakes

Treating "første" as regular

• Wrong: Den ente dagen.
• Right: Den første dagen.
• Why: "Første" is completely irregular — there is no regular derivation from "en/ett." It must be memorized as a fixed form.

Forgetting gender agreement for "andre/annet"

• Wrong: Det andre forsøk (without agreement)
• Right: Det andre forsøket / Det annet forsøk
• Why: "Second" can take the neuter form "annet" when modifying a neuter noun. In practice, "andre" is increasingly used for all genders in casual Bokmål, but awareness of the distinction matters.

Missing the period in written dates

• Wrong: 17 mai
• Right: 17. mai
• Why: In Norwegian, a period after the number indicates it is an ordinal. Writing "17 mai" reads as "seventeen May" rather than "the seventeenth of May."

Confusing "andre" (second) with "andre" (other)

• Wrong: Interpreting "de andre" as always meaning "the second ones"
• Right: "De andre" usually means "the others." Context determines whether it means "second" or "other."
• Why: "Andre" has two meanings. "Den andre" can mean "the second one" or "the other one" depending on context.

Usage Notes

Ordinal numbers are used consistently across all registers in Bokmål. Dates always use ordinals (written with a period: 1., 2., 3.), and this convention is standard in both formal and informal writing.

The seventeenth of May (17. mai, syttende mai) is Norway's Constitution Day and the most important national holiday. You will hear "syttende mai" frequently in conversation and media around this date.

In spoken Norwegian, ordinals above twenty are sometimes avoided in favor of cardinal numbers: "side tjueto" (page twenty-two) rather than "den tjueandre siden." This is informal but common.

Practice Tips

1. Drill the first ten ordinals daily. Første, andre, tredje, fjerde, femte, sjette, sjuende, åttende, niende, tiende. These cover the vast majority of everyday usage. Say them aloud until they are automatic.

2. Practice with dates. Pick random dates and say them as ordinals: "den tolvte mars," "den tjuefemte desember," "den tredje oktober." This is practical and reinforces the number-to-ordinal conversion.

3. Describe sequences in your day. "Først stod jeg opp. Den andre tingen jeg gjorde var..." Narrating steps in order forces you to use ordinals in natural context.

Related Concepts

• Parent: Numbers and Time — cardinal numbers are the foundation for forming ordinals
• Related: Double Determination — ordinals in definite phrases follow the double determination pattern