First, Second, Third: primus, secundus, tertius

First, Second, Third

Level 3

An ordinal is an adjective in -us, -a, -um.

How It Works

Masculine	Feminine	Meaning
primus	prima	first
secundus	secunda	second
tertius	tertia	third
quartus	quarta	fourth
quintus	quinta	fifth
sextus	sexta	sixth
septimus	septima	seventh
octavus	octava	eighth
nonus	nona	ninth
decimus	decima	tenth

The neuter ends in -um, as in tertium. Ordinals are not the counting numbers: tres means three, and tertia means third.

English still uses a Latin ordinal in noon, which comes from nona, the ninth hour. The Roman ninth hour was mid-afternoon, and the word moved to midday over the centuries.

Secundus also means following. The preposition secundum means according to, as in the Creed: secundum scripturas.

Examples (5)

Marcus primus venit.
Marcus comes first.
Primus agrees with Marcus.
Iulia secunda est.
Iulia is second.
Secunda is feminine, to match Iulia.
Hic liber quartus est.
This book is the fourth.
Quartus agrees with liber.
Septimo die Marcus Romam venit.
On the seventh day Marcus comes to Rome.
Septimo agrees with die; both are ablative of time.
Tertia die resurrexit.
On the third day he rose.
Tertia agrees with die, which can be feminine or masculine, so tertio die is correct too. The words are from the Creed.

Common Mistakes

Giving the ordinal the wrong gender.
Tertius hora est.
Tertia hora est.
Hora is feminine, so the ordinal is tertia.
Using a counting number for the order.
Hora tres est.
Hora tertia est.
Tres means three. To say the third hour, use the ordinal tertia.

How It Connects

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

First, Second, Third: primus, secundus, tertiusLevel 3First, Second, Third

Learn This First

The ordinals from first to tenth match the numbers one to ten and agree like adjectives, so those numbers come first.

Counting One to Ten
Know one to ten, because each ordinal matches a number and changes like bonus: tres, tertia; quattuor, quarta.
Level 2

Words in This Pattern

primussecundussecundustertiusquartusquintussextusseptimusoctavusnonusdecimus

Practice First, Second, Third: primus, secundus, tertius in Bubblegum

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