English learners normally learn two types of numbers. They are: cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers.
Cardinal numbers deals with the quantity of things and answer the question: How many?
- How many books are there on the table?
- There are three books on the table.
Ordinal numbers deals with the numerical order of things and aswer the question: which?
The first letter of the hidden word was 'C'. (Which letter of the hidden word was 'C'?).
Cardinal numbers
There are some certain rules which must be learnt carefully:
- By adding the suffix -teen at the end of the cardinal numbers up to ten, you may form the numbers from 13 to 19. Learn the folowing table:
| three (3) | thirteen (13) |
| four (4) | fourteen (14) |
| five (5) | fifteen (15) |
| six (6) | sixteen (16) |
| seven (7) | seventeen (17) |
| eight (8) | eighteen (18) |
| nine (9) | nineteen (19) |
- Another suffux -ty helps to make the following numbers:
| three | thirty (30) |
| four | fourty (40) |
| five | fifty (50) |
| six | sixty (60) |
| seven | seventy (70) |
| eight | eighty (80) |
| nine | ninety (90) |
- Between digits of the numbers like 23,24,25,95,85 etc., write a hyphen: twenty-four, twenty-three, twenty-five, ninety-five.
- Don't forget 'and': one hundred and fifty -150, two hundred and thirty-four - 234.
- Before the numbers like hundred, thousand and million the indefinite artice 'a' or the number 'one' isput: a hundred (or one hundred), a million (or one million).
- Don't say 'two hundreds' or 'five millions'. Say just 'two hundred' or 'five million'.
Ordinal numbers except first, second and third are formed by adding the suffixes -th or -eth at the end of cardinal numbers.
Numbers which end in -ty take -eth but before this you should change the last letter y to i. : thirty - thirteth.
The definite article 'the' comes before ordinal numbers.
| Cardinal Numerals | Ordinal Numerals |
| 1. one [wʌn] | the first [ðə fɜːst] |
| 2. two [tuː] | the second [ ðə 'sek(ə)nd] |
| 3. three [θriː] | the third [ðə θɜːd] |
| 4. four [fɔː] | the fourth [ ðə fɔːθ] |
| 5. five [faɪv] | the fifth [ðə fɪfθ] |
| 6. six [sɪks] | the sixth [ðə sɪksθ] |
| 7. seven ['sev(ə)n] | the seventh [ ðə 'sev(ə)nθ] |
| 8. eight [eɪt] | the eighth [ ðə eɪtθ] |
| 9. nine [naɪn] | the ninth [ðə naɪnθ] |
| 10. ten [ten] | the tenth [ðə tenθ] |
| 11. eleven [ɪ'lev(ə)n] | the eleventh [ðə ɪ'lev(ə)nθ] |
| 12. twelve [twelv] | the twelfth [ðə twelfθ] |
| 13. thirteen [θɜː'tiːn] | the thirteenth [ðə θɜː'tiːnθ] |
| 14. fourteen [ˌfɔː'tiːn] | the fourteenth [ðə ˌfɔː'tiːnθ] |
| 15. fifteen [ˌfɪf'tiːn] | the fifteenth [ðə ˌfɪf'tiːnθ] |
| 16. sixteen [ˌsɪk'stiːn] | the sixteenth [ðə ˌsɪk'stiːnθ] |
| 17. seventeen [ˌsev(ə)n'tiːn] | the seventeenth [ðə ˌsev(ə)n'tiːnθ] |
| 18. eighteen [ˌeɪ'tiːn] | the eighteenth [ðə ˌeɪ'tiːnθ] |
| 19. nineteen [ˌnaɪn'tiːn] | the nineteenth [ðə ˌnaɪn'tiːnθ] |
| 20. twenty ['twentɪ] | the twentieth [ðə 'twentɪɪθ] |
| 21. twenty-one ['twentɪ wʌn] | the twenty-first [ðə 'twentɪ fɜːst] |
| 30. thirty ['θɜːtɪ] | the thirtieth ['θɜːtɪəθ] |
| 40. forty ['fɔːtɪ] | the fortieth ['fɔːtɪəθ] |
| 50. fifty ['fɪftɪ] | the fiftieth ['fɪftɪəθ] |
| 60. sixty ['sɪkstɪ] | the sixtieth ['sɪkstɪəθ] |
| 70. seventy ['sev(ə)ntɪ] | the seventieth ['sev(ə)ntɪəθ] |
| 80. eighty ['eɪtɪ] | the eightieth ['eɪtɪəθ] |
| 90. ninety ['naɪntɪ] | the ninetieth ['naɪntɪəθ] |
| 100. hundred ['hʌndrəd] | the hundredth ['hʌndrədθ] |
