Understanding Ordinal Numbers

Have you ever stood in a line and wondered who is at the front and who is next? To talk about order, we use special words called ordinal numbers.

What Are Ordinal Numbers?

Regular numbers (like $1, 2, 3$) tell us how many objects there are. Ordinal numbers tell us the position or order of something in a sequence. They tell us where something is.

For example, if you win a race, you are in the first place!

The First 10 Ordinal Numbers

Here are the most common ordinal numbers you need to know:

• $1$st = First
• $2$nd = Second
• $3$rd = Third
• $4$th = Fourth
• $5$th = Fifth
• $6$th = Sixth
• $7$th = Seventh
• $8$th = Eighth
• $9$th = Ninth
• $10$th = Tenth

Let's Practice!

Let's look at a few examples to see how ordinal numbers work.

Example 1: Which animal is third in line? Imagine a line of animals waiting for a treat:

1. Dog
2. Cat
3. Rabbit
4. Bird
5. Turtle

To find the third ($3$rd) animal, we count from the beginning: Dog is first, Cat is second, and the Rabbit is third!

Example 2: Color the 5th star Imagine a row of $7$ blank stars. To find the $5$th star, start at the very first star on the left and count up to $5$: First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth! You would color in that exact star.

Remember, ordinal numbers always follow the same order as counting, just with different words!