unua, dua, tria

First, Second, Third

Level 2

A number plus -a gives the place in a row.

How It Works

An ordinal is an adjective, so it takes -j and -n like any other: la unua tago, la unuaj tagoj, la trian libron.

When the number has several words, write the ordinal with hyphens and put -a on the end: dek-unua, dudek-tria.

With -e the word lists points in order: Unue mi manĝos, due mi dormos (first I will eat, second I will sleep).

Hodiaŭ estas la unua tago de la kongreso.
Today is the first day of the congress.
Unua is the ordinal of unu and agrees with tago.
Ewa loĝas en la tria etaĝo.
Ewa lives on the third floor.
Tria is tri with -a.
Ni legas la duan ĉapitron.
We are reading the second chapter.
Duan has -n because the whole phrase is the object.
Kenji estas la dek-dua en la vico.
Kenji is the twelfth in the line.
A two-word ordinal is joined with a hyphen.
Unue ni trinkos teon, due ni iros al la parko.
First we will drink tea, second we will go to the park.
Unue and due list the steps in order.

Using a plain number where an ordinal is needed.
Ni loĝas en la tri etaĝo.
Ni loĝas en la tria etaĝo.
To say the place in a row, add -a to the number.

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

unua, dua, triaLevel 2First, Second, Third

An ordinal number is a number plus -a.

Patterns that build on this one.

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