Ordinal numbers — premier and -ième

In one line

Add -ième to the number and it becomes an ordinal — only premier is irregular, and a few numbers change spelling slightly.

The forms on this page

The table

This is English -th, and even the irregularity sits in the same place. English has first, second, third as odd forms and then regular -th from four onwards. French has one odd form, premier, and regular -ième from two onwards — so it is slightly simpler, not harder.

The rule and three spelling changes

The rule: number + -ième. If the number ends in e, that e drops.

That u in cinquième is there for pronunciation: without it, cinqième would soften the q before the i. The detail is in g-c.

premier is the only ordinal that fully agrees

The rest only take a plural s: les deuxièmes — masculine and feminine are identical.

dernier agrees fully as well: dernier · dernière · derniers · dernières

deuxième or second

In practice the distinction has faded and deuxième is accepted almost everywhere, but knowing it earns marks in a written exam.

Abbreviations — and that raised e

French has a special form only for the first; everything else takes e. The form 2ème is also seen, but 2e is correct in formal writing.

Simpler than English, which has four endings — st nd rd th — and makes you match them to the final digit.

Where ordinals are not used

Three places where English uses an ordinal and French does not:

English says "the third of March" and "Louis the Fourteenth**"; French says le trois mars and Louis quatorze** — the plain number, with no ending and no "of".

Louis XIV is read Louis quatorze, but François Ier is read François premier. Only the first is an ordinal — exactly as in English, where "Elizabeth I" is "the First".

Common phrases

le premier étage is the floor above the ground floor, not the ground floor itself — the same as British usage and the opposite of American. In a French lift, 0 or RC is street level.

Examples

Common mistakes

Why -ième