Ordinal Numbers
These are the 'ordering' form of the numbers – first, second, third and so on. Ordinal numbers are generally formed by adding an '-s' ending, but 'first' and 'second' are completely different, and for the others the stems are not straightforward:
| Ordinal numbers 1–10 | |
|---|---|
| Finnish | English |
| ensimmäinen | first |
| toinen | second |
| kolmas | third |
| neljäs | fourth |
| viides | fifth |
| kuudes | sixth |
| seitsemäs | seventh |
| kahdeksas | eighth |
| yhdeksäs | ninth |
| kymmenes | tenth |
For teens, you change the first part of the word; however note how 'first' and 'second' lose their irregularity in 'eleven' and 'twelve':
| Ordinal numbers 11–19 | |
|---|---|
| Finnish | English |
| yhdestoista | eleventh |
| kahdestoista | twelfth |
| kolmastoista | thirteenth |
| neljästoista | fourteenth |
| viidestoista | fifteenth |
| kuudestoista | sixteenth |
| seitsemästoista | seventeenth |
| kahdeksastoista | eighteenth |
| yhdeksästoista | nineteenth |
For twenty through ninety-nine, all parts of the number get the '-s' ending. 'First' and 'second' take the irregular form only at the end of a word. The regular forms are possible for them but they are less common.
| Ordinal numbers 20– | |
|---|---|
| Finnish | English |
| kahdeskymmenes | twentieth |
| kahdeskymmenesensimmäinen | twenty-first (also 'kahdeskymmenesyhdes') |
| kahdeskymmenestoinen | twenty-second (also 'kahdeskymmeneskahdes') |
| kahdeskymmeneskolmas | twenty-third |
100th is 'sadas', 1000th is 'tuhannes', 3721st is 'kolmas-tuhannes-seitsemäs-sadas-kahdes-kymmenes-ensimmäinen'. (Again, dashes only included here for clarity; the word is properly spelled without them.)
Like cardinals, ordinal numbers can also be inflected:
| Finnish | English |
|---|---|
| kolmatta viikkoa | for (already) the third week |
| viidennessätoista kerroksessa | in the fifteenth floor |
| tuhannennelle asiakkaalle | to the thousandth customer |
The 'toista' in the 'teens' is actually the partitive of 'toinen', which is why 'toista' gets no further inflection endings. (Literally 'yksitoista || one-of-the-second'.)
Long ordinal numbers in Finnish are typed in almost the same way as the long cardinal numbers. 32534756 would be (in numbers over one million, 'miljoona' ('million') is written separately) 'kolmas-kymmenes-kahdes miljoonas viides-sadas-kolmas-kymmenes-neljäs-tuhannes seitsemäs-sadas-viides-kymmenes-kuudes'. (Still, no dashes.)
Read more about this topic: Finnish Numerals
Famous quotes containing the word numbers:
“I had but three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship; three for society. When visitors came in larger and unexpected numbers there was but the third chair for them all, but they generally economized the room by standing up.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)