Ordinal Numbers

• first
• fifth
• twentieth

As in English, ordinal numbers come before the noun. Ordinal numbers agree in gender with the noun they modify. The situations in which we use ordinal numbers vary from English to Spanish. For example, in English we say "the fourth of July," but in Spanish this translates into "el cuatro de Julio". Ordinal numbers are also used in the names of royalty, for example, "Carlos Quinto" is Charles the Fifth.

The words that mean first and third have two different forms: "primer/primero" and "tercer/tercero." The first form (primer or tercer) is used when the noun follows the number, as in "el primer día" (the first day), "el tercer mes" (the third month). The second form (primero or tercero) is used when the number is used by itself, as in "el primero" (the first), with the noun being implied from the context.