Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers in English

When learning English, you’ll come across cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers. These two types of numbers are used in different situations—cardinals for counting and ordinals for showing the order or position of something.

What Are Cardinal Numbers?

Cardinal numbers tell us "how many" of something we have. They are used for counting and answering questions like "How many apples?" or "How many people?"

Examples:

• 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.

Example sentence: There are 10 students in the class.

What Are Ordinal Numbers?

Ordinal numbers tell us the position or rank of something. They are used to describe the order in which things happen or are placed.

Examples:

• 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.

Example sentence: She finished in 3rd place in the race.

How to Form Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers are generally formed by adding specific suffixes to the end of a cardinal number. However, the first few ordinal numbers have unique forms.

Basic Rules for Forming Ordinal Numbers:

For 1, 2, and 3, use:

• 1st (first)
• 2nd (second)
• 3rd (third)

For numbers ending in -ty (e.g., 20, 30), replace the -y with -ieth:

• 20 → 20th (twentieth)
• 30 → 30th (thirtieth)

For most numbers that don’t end in 1, 2, or 3, add -th:

• 4 → 4th (fourth)
• 5 → 5th (fifth)

For numbers ending in 1, 2, or 3 (except for 11, 12, and 13), add -st, -nd, and -rd, respectively:

• 21 → 21st (twenty-first)
• 22 → 22nd (twenty-second)
• 23 → 23rd (twenty-third)

For 11, 12, and 13, use -th (even though they end in 1, 2, and 3):

• 11 → 11th (eleventh)
• 12 → 12th (twelfth)
• 13 → 13th (thirteenth)

List of Cardinal Numbers from 0 to 100

• 0 - zero
• 1 - one
• 2 - two
• 3 - three
• 4 - four
• 5 - five
• 6 - six
• 7 - seven
• 8 - eight
• 9 - nine
• 10 - ten
• 11 - eleven
• 12 - twelve
• 13 - thirteen
• 14 - fourteen
• 15 - fifteen
• 16 - sixteen
• 17 - seventeen
• 18 - eighteen
• 19 - nineteen
• 20 - twenty
• 21 - twenty-one
• 22 - twenty-two
• 23 - twenty-three
• 24 - twenty-four
• 25 - twenty-five
• 26 - twenty-six
• 27 - twenty-seven
• 28 - twenty-eight
• 29 - twenty-nine
• 30 - thirty
• 31 - thirty-one
• 32 - thirty-two
• 33 - thirty-three
• 34 - thirty-four
• 35 - thirty-five
• 36 - thirty-six
• 37 - thirty-seven
• 38 - thirty-eight
• 39 - thirty-nine
• 40 - forty
• 41 - forty-one
• 42 - forty-two
• 43 - forty-three
• 44 - forty-four
• 45 - forty-five
• 46 - forty-six
• 47 - forty-seven
• 48 - forty-eight
• 49 - forty-nine
• 50 - fifty
• 51 - fifty-one
• 52 - fifty-two
• 53 - fifty-three
• 54 - fifty-four
• 55 - fifty-five
• 56 - fifty-six
• 57 - fifty-seven
• 58 - fifty-eight
• 59 - fifty-nine
• 60 - sixty
• 61 - sixty-one
• 62 - sixty-two
• 63 - sixty-three
• 64 - sixty-four
• 65 - sixty-five
• 66 - sixty-six
• 67 - sixty-seven
• 68 - sixty-eight
• 69 - sixty-nine
• 70 - seventy
• 71 - seventy-one
• 72 - seventy-two
• 73 - seventy-three
• 74 - seventy-four
• 75 - seventy-five
• 76 - seventy-six
• 77 - seventy-seven
• 78 - seventy-eight
• 79 - seventy-nine
• 80 - eighty
• 81 - eighty-one
• 82 - eighty-two
• 83 - eighty-three
• 84 - eighty-four
• 85 - eighty-five
• 86 - eighty-six
• 87 - eighty-seven
• 88 - eighty-eight
• 89 - eighty-nine
• 90 - ninety
• 91 - ninety-one
• 92 - ninety-two
• 93 - ninety-three
• 94 - ninety-four
• 95 - ninety-five
• 96 - ninety-six
• 97 - ninety-seven
• 98 - ninety-eight
• 99 - ninety-nine
• 100 - one hundred

Notice that you need to use a hyphen (-) when you write the numbers between 21 and 99.

List of Ordinal Numbers from 1 to 100

• 1st - first
• 2nd - second
• 3rd - third
• 4th - fourth
• 5th - fifth
• 6th - sixth
• 7th - seventh
• 8th - eighth
• 9th - ninth
• 10th - tenth
• 11th - eleventh
• 12th - twelfth
• 13th - thirteenth
• 14th - fourteenth
• 15th - fifteenth
• 16th - sixteenth
• 17th - seventeenth
• 18th - eighteenth
• 19th - nineteenth
• 20th - twentieth
• 21st - twenty-first
• 22nd - twenty-second
• 23rd - twenty-third
• 24th - twenty-fourth
• 25th - twenty-fifth
• 26th - twenty-sixth
• 27th - twenty-seventh
• 28th - twenty-eighth
• 29th - twenty-ninth
• 30th - thirtieth
• 31st - thirty-first
• 32nd - thirty-second
• 33rd - thirty-third
• 34th - thirty-fourth
• 35th - thirty-fifth
• 36th - thirty-sixth
• 37th - thirty-seventh
• 38th - thirty-eighth
• 39th - thirty-ninth
• 40th - fortieth
• 41st - forty-first
• 42nd - forty-second
• 43rd - forty-third
• 44th - forty-fourth
• 45th - forty-fifth
• 46th - forty-sixth
• 47th - forty-seventh
• 48th - forty-eighth
• 49th - forty-ninth
• 50th - fiftieth
• 51st - fifty-first
• 52nd - fifty-second
• 53rd - fifty-third
• 54th - fifty-fourth
• 55th - fifty-fifth
• 56th - fifty-sixth
• 57th - fifty-seventh
• 58th - fifty-eighth
• 59th - fifty-ninth
• 60th - sixtieth
• 61st - sixty-first
• 62nd - sixty-second
• 63rd - sixty-third
• 64th - sixty-fourth
• 65th - sixty-fifth
• 66th - sixty-sixth
• 67th - sixty-seventh
• 68th - sixty-eighth
• 69th - sixty-ninth
• 70th - seventieth
• 71st - seventy-first
• 72nd - seventy-second
• 73rd - seventy-third
• 74th - seventy-fourth
• 75th - seventy-fifth
• 76th - seventy-sixth
• 77th - seventy-seventh
• 78th - seventy-eighth
• 79th - seventy-ninth
• 80th - eightieth
• 81st - eighty-first
• 82nd - eighty-second
• 83rd - eighty-third
• 84th - eighty-fourth
• 85th - eighty-fifth
• 86th - eighty-sixth
• 87th - eighty-seventh
• 88th - eighty-eighth
• 89th - eighty-ninth
• 90th - ninetieth
• 91st - ninety-first
• 92nd - ninety-second
• 93rd - ninety-third
• 94th - ninety-fourth
• 95th - ninety-fifth
• 96th - ninety-sixth
• 97th - ninety-seventh
• 98th - ninety-eighth
• 99th - ninety-ninth
• 100th - one hundredth