German Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers (Ordinalzahlen) in German are used to specify order, position, dates, or sequences. Unlike cardinal numbers, they describe placement (e.g., "first," "second," "third") and function grammatically as adjectives. Therefore, they are written in lowercase (except when nominalized) and must take the regular adjective declension endings.

To form ordinal numbers up to 19, add the suffix -te to the cardinal number (e.g., zwei becomes zweite, vier becomes vierte), with irregular exceptions for eins (erste), drei (dritte), sieben (siebte), and acht (achte). From 20 onwards, add the suffix -ste (e.g., zwanzig becomes zwanzigste). When declined, these numbers take endings matching the case, gender, and article (e.g., am einunddreißigsten Dezember).

A common mistake is using the cardinal number instead of the declined ordinal number when writing dates in German (e.g., writing ich habe am drei Mai Geburtstag instead of ich habe am dritten Mai Geburtstag). Another error is forgetting that the number is represented with a period in written German, which acts as the ordinal sign (e.g., der 3. Mai represents der dritte Mai).