Spanish Ordinal Numbers

Spanish ordinal numbers can differ significantly from their cardinal counterparts. However, they are used less than in English. They are often used for the numbers ten and under. For larger numbers, it is common to use the cardinal number, especially in speech.

The phrase the twentieth century is el siglo veinte in Spanish. The cardinal number veinte (twenty) is used. To say the sixteenth floor, it is common to say el piso dieciseis. In this case the cardinal number dieciseis (sixteen) is used.

Here is a list of Spanish ordinal numbers:

tenth décimo

twentieth vigésimo

thirthieth trigésimo

fortieth cuadragésimo

fiftieth quincuagésimo

sixtieth sexagésimo

seventieth septuagésimo

eightieth octogésimo

ninetieth nonagésimo

one hundredth centésimo

two hundredth ducentésimo

three hundredth tricentésimo

four hundredth cuadringentésimo

five hundredth quingentésimo

six hundredth sexcentésimo

seven hundredth septingentésimo

eight hundredth octingentésimo

nine hundredth noningentésimo

one thousandth milésimo

In the list of cardinal numbers, the stress is always antepenultimate. The cardinal numbers have more syllables than they do in English. A few such as the cardinal numbers for four hundredth and seven hundredth have six syllables. The large number of syllables may be one reason that the cardinal numbers are used less extensively in Spanish than in English.