# Ordinals: primero to décimo — then cardinals take over

> id: grammar.numbers.ordinal · category: grammar · depth: standard · levels: A2 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Primero through décimo are everyday; beyond ten, spoken Spanish uses cardinals (el piso once). Primer/tercer shorten before masculine nouns.

Ordinal numbers from 'first' to 'tenth' are in everyday use: primero, segundo, tercero, cuarto, quinto, sexto, séptimo, octavo, noveno, décimo. They agree like adjectives: la segunda puerta, los primeros días.

Primero and tercero apocopate before a masculine singular noun, dropping the -o: el primer día, el tercer intento (but la primera vez, los primeros).

Beyond ten, spoken Spanish abandons ordinals and uses cardinals instead: el piso once ('the eleventh floor'), el siglo veintiuno ('the 21st century'), Alfonso doce ('Alfonso XII'). The higher ordinals (undécimo, vigésimo…) exist but sound formal and are rarely used in speech.

## Examples
- Vivimos en el tercer piso. — We live on the third floor.
- Es la quinta vez que llamo. — It's the fifth time I've called.
- Es la quinta vez que subo al décimo piso hoy. — It's the fifth time I've gone up to the tenth floor today.

Related: grammar.numbers.cardinal, grammar.adjectives.apocope

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