Learning ordinal numbers in Spanish might sound as exciting as watching paint dry… 🎨😅
But don’t worry — we’re about to make them so easy, so visual and so fun that you'll remember them al dedillo (perfectly).
You’ll learn what they mean, how to use them, how to type them (even without a Spanish keyboard!), how to pronounce them, and how to understand abbreviations like 1.º, 2.º, 3.º with confidence.
Let’s turn this ‘boring’ grammar topic into a fiesta lingüística. 🎉💃🕺
📚 Ordinal numbers show order: first, second, third…
In Spanish, they behave like adjectives, meaning they must match the gender and number of the noun.
🎯 el primer día
🎯 la primera clase
🎯 los primeros ejercicios
🎯 las primeras páginas
Spanish ordinal numbers always come in masculine and feminine forms:
⚡ primero / primera
⚡ segundo / segunda
⚡ tercero / tercera
Here are the most common ones:
🥇 primero / primera – first
🥈 segundo / segunda – second
🥉 tercero / tercera – third
🔥 cuarto / cuarta – fourth
🌟 quinto / quinta – fifth
🎈 sexto / sexta – sixth
🏅 séptimo / séptima – seventh
💫 octavo / octava – eighth
🎨 noveno / novena – ninth
🌞 décimo / décima – tenth
Spanish also has ordinal numbers beyond ten. We don’t use them daily, but they appear in books, ceremonies, competitions or formal contexts:
📘 undécimo / undécima – eleventh
📘 duodécimo / duodécima – twelfth
📘 decimotercero / decimotercera – thirteenth
📘 decimocuarto / decimocuarta – fourteenth
📘 decimoquinto / decimoquinta – fifteenth
For bigger numbers, Spanish forms ordinals like this:
🎯 vigésimo / vigésima – twentieth
🎯 vigésimo primero / vigésima primera – twenty-first
🎯 trigésimo / trigésima – thirtieth
🎯 trigésimo segundo / trigésima segunda – thirty-second
🎯 cuadragésimo / cuadragésima – fortieth
Even if you won’t say trigésimo sexto every day, it’s great to recognise it.
Like knowing what’s inside a tortilla española — even if you don’t cook one daily. 🥔🍳😉
Spanish uses superscript letters for ordinal abbreviations:
🖥️ 1º / 1ª
🖥️ 2º / 2ª
🖥️ 3º / 3ª
🖥️ 20º / 20ª
The º symbol is masculine, and ª is feminine.
If you can’t type them:
✔️ 1o / 1a (informal, but understandable)
✔️ Or simply write primero / primera — always correct
How to type the symbols:
🖥️ Windows → Alt + 0186 (º) / Alt + 0170 (ª)
🍎 Mac → Option + 0 (º) / Option + Shift + 0 (ª)
📱 Mobile → Long-press o or a
🇪🇸 Want to type accents, ñ, ¿ ?, ¡ ! and ordinal symbols without a Spanish keyboard?
You’re in luck 🎉
Learn how to activate the Spanish keyboard on your device and type everything perfectly — even if your keyboard is from the UK, US, France, Italy or anywhere else.
✨ primero / primera → 1º / 1ª
✨ segundo / segunda → 2º / 2ª
✨ tercero / tercera → 3º / 3ª
Special grammar rule:
Before a masculine singular noun, Spanish drops the final -o:
🏆 primer día
🏆 tercer lugar
Not primero día or tercero lugar.
It’s just Spanish being stylish. 💅😉
👱🏻♀️ Lucía: 🎯 ¿En qué piso vives?
👦🏻 Tom: 🏡 Vivo en el tercer piso.
👱🏻♀️ Lucía: 🚪 Yo vivo en el primer piso, justo debajo de ti.
👦🏻 Tom: 🌆 El vigésimo piso tiene una terraza increíble.
Translation:
👱🏻♀️ Lucía: 'Which floor do you live on?'
👦🏻 Tom: 'I live on the third floor.'
👱🏻♀️ Lucía: 'I live on the first floor, just below you.'
👦🏻 Tom: 'The twentieth floor has an amazing terrace.'
🥇 primero / primera – first
🥈 segundo / segunda – second
🥉 tercero / tercera – third
🔥 cuarto / cuarta – fourth
🌟 quinto / quinta – fifth
🎈 sexto / sexta – sixth
🏅 séptimo / séptima – seventh
💫 octavo / octava – eighth
🎨 noveno / novena – ninth
🌞 décimo / décima – tenth
📘 undécimo / undécima
📘 duodécimo / duodécima
🎯 vigésimo / vigésima
🎯 trigésimo / trigésima
🎯 cuadragésimo / cuadragésima
📌 primer / tercer – shortened masculine forms
Test your knowledge with this short multiple-choice quiz 👇