Questions tagged [ordinal-numbers]

Questions about ordinal numbers, such as "first" or "second".

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How do you say the next ordinal number after N? [duplicate]

How do you say the next ordinal number after N? Nth + 1? (N + 1)th? N + 1st? These all sound wrong to me. Contrived example: Not to be outdone, whenever he researched a topic to the n-th degree, she ...
kinbiko's user avatar
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For Nth time or for a/an Nth time

In an English language class at school, I was taught to always use "the" not "a/an" when I want to use an ordinal number, for example, "for the second time in a row" ...
yoppuyoppu's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
383 views

Is there a word that is specific to a number being divisible specifically by 5?

I'm searching for a word that would indicate an attraction to — or consistent use of — numbers that are divisible by "5". Example: Tom always bets on numbers ending in 5 or 0 because he is ...
Victoria Pendragon's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
143 views

Do we hyphen ordinal numbers written in letters? [closed]

Knowing that we hyphen compound numbers under 100. Do we do the same for the ones used for ranks? Every website I've looked at teaches how to hyphen cardinal numbers (67, 82, 34,...) but does not say ...
Eren8hisfather's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
173 views

How should I hyphen decimal numbers written in letters (that contains the word "point" and "and")?

All the wesites I've looked at says to hyphen numbers when you are describing compound numbers between 21 and 99 (except 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90). A compound number is any number that consists ...
Eren8hisfather's user avatar
-4 votes
1 answer
41 views

What is the proper number formatting for a legal document from the Supreme court? [closed]

Do federally-issued legal documents in the USA require numbers spelt out, or in number form? I took a look at this site concerning Citation, Grammar and Style Guides from Loyola School of Law, but it ...
Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_'s user avatar
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1 answer
493 views

Cardinal numbers in dates when speaking

I understand that in speaking (if we are talking strictly about formal rules) it is more common to use ordinal numbers and not cardinal numbers. However, it has come to my attention that people these ...
meepyer's user avatar
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What is the ordinal for 2.5? [duplicate]

In the literature, there are "second degree of XX" and "third degree of XX". I was trying to consider a mix of them, and was considering naming it as "2.5 (ordinal) degree of ...
Ypbor's user avatar
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When defining the median for an odd number of measurements, should we use [(n+1)/2]th or [(n+1)/2]nd?

When defining the median for an odd number of measurements, should we use [(n+1)/2]th or [(n+1)/2]nd? I am aware of a related question but I am nor sure if having the number 2 in the denominator ...
Zuriel's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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How exactly is "another" an ordinal number? Please give examples

In my Collins Grammar book, it says that another can in ways be an ordinal number. I understand how next or last can be ordinal numbers because they point to something in an ordered sequence. Instead ...
Sam's user avatar
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Verb agreement when using To Infinitive after ordinal numbers as subject

I know that after ordinal numbers (the first, the second etc.) we can use to-infinitive clause. E.g: Ethan was the last person to understand the joke. My questions is when the above construction ...
bob's user avatar
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1 answer
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Pronunciation of numbers in address [closed]

When I say the name of a street with “at”, like “at 12 Oxford St”, should I pronounce the number as cardinal or ordinal? And if it is ordinal, do I get it right that it still must always be written ...
qwerty456's user avatar
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1 answer
715 views

Why not elevenst, twelvend, and thirteenrd?

Base-10 integers, when used as adjectives to express order, add a "st", "nd", "rd", and "th" suffix to whatever the number is, depending on whether the ones ...
trw's user avatar
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1 answer
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Which one is correct "John is in the third" or "John is in the third place"? [closed]

If I want to ask someone in the picture, like 'Where's John?' or 'Which one is john?' which answer should it be?
Mona Muna's user avatar
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2 answers
369 views

Number vs. no. vs. # in scientific papers?

This is kinda an extension to: this question. I am writing a scientific paper and have a numbered list. Now, when I want to refer to that list I want to say something like: "This issue is closely ...
user395429's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
3k views

Should we superscript ordinal numbers? [closed]

I have noticed that sometimes we write ordinal numbers with the "th" a little higher than the numbers. But sometimes I see it just attached to it. Which one is correct?
Joe Simpson's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
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Articles before ordinal numbers

I am a bit confused about differences in the usage of articles before ordinal numbers. Technically, it would be logical to always use "the" for instances like "the fourth time I did this" or "the ...
RusG's user avatar
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1 vote
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(n-1)st/th: n minus oneth or first? [duplicate]

Should I write (n-1)th or (n-1)st Relatedly, is it "n minus oneth" or "n minus first". Thanks!
Bora M. Alper's user avatar
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0 answers
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What we should write in roman for ordinal numbers? [duplicate]

As we write 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th what we should write in roman for the same way?
Divyang Shah's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
315 views

How do ordinal suffixes work with mathematical constants and other non-Arabic numbers?

This question was inspired by a tweet from the FakeUnicode Twitter account, a semi-novelty account sharing various examples in the wild of bugs, glitches and other unintended results from improperly ...
Nzall's user avatar
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“25th De­cem­ber” vs “25 De­cem­ber”: Should I use or­di­nals or car­di­nals for the day of the month?

In one of the IELTS lis­ten­ing tests, there is a fill-out-the-blank ques­tion read­ing: The mu­seum is not open on ___. My an­swer was “25th De­cem­ber”. How­ever, the of­fi­cial an­swer is “25 ...
user332314's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
137 views

Why is the order for some words that function as ordinal numbers flexible?

Adjectives, numbers, and determiners have a set order when multiples are used to reference the same noun at once. When cardinal and ordinal numbers are used at the same time, the ordinal always comes ...
Rykara's user avatar
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7 votes
1 answer
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Use of degree symbol for Latinate ordinal number shorthand

I remember often having professors in college use degree symbols to write shorthand versions of Latinate ordinal numbers. For example: 1° Primary 2° Secondary 3° Tertiary 4° Quaternary ...
theforestecologist's user avatar
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What word is an adjective meaning "not first"?

In the following sentences, what single word can I use to summarize the ordinal numbers second, third, fourth, etc.? When you take your second, third, fourth, etc. flu shot, call me. If you have your ...
markovchain's user avatar
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2 answers
899 views

Primary, secondary, tertiary, etc... - what is the -ary for the etc? The nth-ary?

Target: I've been losing my mind ever since I learned "tertiary" corresponds to 3 instead of encompassing all the lower orders. I have bi-weekly need of a word in the same vein as primary/secondary, ...
MysticKoolAidMan's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

How to speak the line number? [closed]

What is the most common way to identify a particular line of code in a talk or lecture? On the seventeenth line of this code" On the line seventeen of this code" On the line number seventeen of this ...
Macabeus's user avatar
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1 answer
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How do I write a variable as an ordinal number?

I'm charged with translating a technical document into English, and ran into a bit of an odd problem: the document refers to undefined numbers of elements, and uses letters to represent those numbers, ...
ahawkins82's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
3k views

Should I write "one of 2 things", "1 of 2 things" or "One of two things" [duplicate]

I am proofreading some rules and came across the following: Each turn you must do 1 of 2 things: either take an action on 1 of the top 2 cards of your deck, or discard the top card of your deck" ...
Paul B.'s user avatar
8 votes
4 answers
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What comes after (Primary,unary),(secondary,binary),(tertiary,ternary),...?

I was curious to know what comes after: Primary, secondary, tertiary, ... This Oxford website says it is "quartenary, quinary, ..." But they are already taken! Unary, binary, ternary, ...
user21820's user avatar
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1 vote
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How to use Ordinals with Numeric Date Ranges

Given a numeric date range, such as shown below, which is the correct usage of ordinals? Should I use none, one, or two? The event dates will be Dec 1-5 The event dates will be Dec 1-5th The event ...
David's user avatar
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-2 votes
1 answer
122 views

Ways to express popularity [closed]

I'm writing a piece about baby name popularity, and right now in order to express how popular a name was, I'm constantly using sentences in the form of: In [year number], Henry was the _th most ...
user3576467's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
399 views

Natural way of asking for ordinal position in athletic events [duplicate]

For the long jump event at my school athletics carnival, people nominate and then get arrange in a certain order. I am looking for a natural way of phrasing a question to get someone to tell me where ...
JUNCINATOR's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
35 views

Using ordinal indicators with Roman numerals [duplicate]

Is the use of ordinal indicators with Roman numerals grammatical and if grammatical, is it unneeded? For instance: She is in VIIth standard. What about in case the ordinal indicator was written as a ...
semantically.kaput's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
8k views

Roman numerals used for ordinals

Assume I have to use a Roman numeral to denote an ordinal number. Is it more correct to affix “-th” to it or not? That is, should I write “XIX century” or “XIXth century” to mean “nineteenth century”?
DaG's user avatar
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0 votes
1 answer
954 views

How to properly use the "second" ordinal number with the "second" time unit? [closed]

What I'm trying to say: "Look carefully at the second second of the video." This might be grammatically correct but it's weird to use. What are some better ways to say it? Context: The sentence is ...
Taylan's user avatar
  • 125
7 votes
1 answer
8k views

Sice, cinque, cater, trey, deuce, ace, and then?

The set of numbers for a six-sided die are: ace, deuce, trey, cater, cinque, sice. They originate from Old French (cf. un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six in modern French). Ace comes from Latin as, ...
Laurent Duval's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
795 views

Why is the English word 'second' latin based but other numbers aren't?

Examples: one, two, three, etc. and first, third, fourth, etc. are all germanic and old english based, but "second" is Latin based. This also applies to "quarter" and I'm sure some others.
s g 's user avatar
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6 votes
2 answers
491 views

Is vigenary a real word?

I was interested in determining words to describe ordinal Latinate series numbering above orders of 10 (i.e., "denary"). I found "duodenary", which makes sense based on the latin root duodecim, ...
theforestecologist's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
95 views

The passwords have been used for the second or more time [closed]

Is there any word/structure in English for the following usage? Here we calculate the total number of times that account passwords have been used for the second or more time (third, or higher ...
cyberPrivacy's user avatar
0 votes
4 answers
28k views

Is it correct to say -1th or -1st?

I like to say -1 as negative one. So, should I say "negative oneth index" or "negative first index"? Which one is grammatical? Is there a way to avoid this problem altogether.
Souradeep Nanda's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
2k views

Ordinal form of negative numbers (especially -1, -2, -3) [closed]

Ordinal numbers are traditionally considered to begin at 1: i.e., 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.  Yet, in the past 100 years, the word “zeroth” (0th) has begun to be used. Negative integers seem even more ...
Utkan Gezer's user avatar
2 votes
3 answers
10k views

Uppercase ordinal numbers

Is it correct to use uppercase ordinals when the rest of the whole sentence should be in uppercase? 11TH FEBRUARY 2016 or 11th FEBRUARY 2016 among the above, which one is correct? Or are there no ...
Dhanushka Dolapihilla's user avatar
14 votes
2 answers
3k views

How do you pronounce "xth"?

I'm wondering how do you pronounce letters when used in place of ordinal numbers. Examples: The xth root of five. Two to the yth power. The ith odd number. The jth item on the queue. I know how to ...
hipa's user avatar
  • 143
0 votes
0 answers
208 views

Alphabetic analogue of Numero sign (№)?

I'm typing up a spreadsheet that organises a television series's storyline, and the columns are supposed to be in the following format: . Is there an ordinal indicator I can put there where it says [...
SarahofGaia's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
901 views

Do I write p-th or pth?

I am defining an object called pth homology group and I am not sure whether I am allowed to write pth instead of p-th as the latter seems to be more widely used. Is it grammatically wrong to use pth ...
user12344567's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
6k views

First, … Secondly, … &c [duplicate]

Take it for granted that enumerations have secondly, …; thirdly, …; finally, … Is there any reason, except tradition, to prefer the traditional first to firstly?
Toothrot's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
236 views

How to avoid ordinal numbers when referring to a place in a queue?

I have the following sentence: "You are currently 5th in the queue" I'd like to avoid using ordinal numbers. What is the best way to rephrase this sentence such that it conveys the same meaning, ...
Birjolaxew's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
424 views

Do we have to use ordinals with largest/smallest?

In every-day language, I would say, "Give me the fifth largest pumpkin you have"; that is I would use the ordinal. However, this feels clunky in mathematical texts, especially when reading out loud: "...
Raphael's user avatar
  • 201
3 votes
1 answer
157 views

Is there a term for a grammatical construction like "Exhibit A"?

Is there a term for names that consist of a noun or noun phrase followed by an ordinal letter or numeral? For example: Exhibit A The Land Before Time IV Patient Zero Perhaps ordinal proper noun or ...
Max Radin's user avatar
  • 241
57 votes
7 answers
21k views

When is my son's first birthday?

[Clue: he was born three weeks ago, on 23 September 2014.] Originally, as I understand it, the word birthday meant the day of one's birth. It was a one-off event. I don't want to quarrel with the ...
chiastic-security's user avatar