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Possible Duplicate:
How should I phrase a question that must be answered with an ordinal number (e.g., the third prime)?

I am the third daughter of my parents.

How should a question that is answered with the above sentence be framed?

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If this question suddenly racks up a bajillion views, it's because the help text links here for an example. – badp Apr 29 '11 at 8:56
@badp not quite up to a bajillion yet, I guess our theory that nobody reads the help text is proven. – Jeff Atwood♦ Oct 19 '12 at 6:26
@JeffAtwood FWIW, I got here just because I was playing with the nicely-designed help UI. – Camilo Martin Apr 19 at 8:24

marked as duplicate by RegDwighт♦ Mar 13 '12 at 10:01

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4 Answers

up vote 0 down vote accepted

'Among your sisters, where do fall with respect to birth order?'

Is that what you're looking for?

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I am the fourth child of my parents.How to frame a question that gives this answer? – GPEnglish Feb 5 '11 at 19:05
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'Among your SIBLINGS'... – Chris B. Behrens Feb 5 '11 at 19:21
that sounds correct.But never heard anyone using that expression – GPEnglish Feb 5 '11 at 19:32
This option seems extraordinarily formal. @nohat’s suggestion seems much more natural! @Chris: surely ‘sisters’ is correct, not ‘siblings’, since the desired answer is ‘third daughter’, not ‘third child’? – PLL Feb 5 '11 at 23:18
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I think you forgot the you, as in "...where do you fall..." – Jimi Oke Feb 6 '11 at 1:48
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up vote 7 down vote

“How many older sisters do you have?”

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up vote 5 down vote

Where do you fall in birth order among your siblings?

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up vote 2 down vote

"Are your siblings older or younger than you?", or perhaps "Are you the oldest?" or "Are you the youngest?"

The term birth order would only be used in a scientific context. Even siblings is relatively formal, you'd more often hear "brothers and sisters".

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