primo, secondo, terzo

Italian ordinal numbers

Ten ordinals to learn as words, then one suffix for every number after them. Ordinals are adjectives, so unlike most cardinals they agree with their noun.

Updated 8 October 2026

primo to decimo

Figure	Masculine	Feminine	Cardinal
1°	primo	prima	uno
2°	secondo	seconda	due
3°	terzo	terza	tre
4°	quarto	quarta	quattro
5°	quinto	quinta	cinque
6°	sesto	sesta	sei
7°	settimo	settima	sette
8°	ottavo	ottava	otto
9°	nono	nona	nove
10°	decimo	decima	dieci

From 11: the cardinal plus -esimo

Drop the last vowel, add -esimoundici → undicesimo, venti → ventesimo, ventotto → ventottesimo. Two endings keep their vowel: a final tré keeps its e and loses the accent (ventitreesimo), and a final sei keeps its i (ventiseiesimo).

Figure	Cardinal	Ordinal
11°	undici	undicesimo
12°	dodici	dodicesimo
13°	tredici	tredicesimo
16°	sedici	sedicesimo
17°	diciassette	diciassettesimo
20°	venti	ventesimo
21°	ventuno	ventunesimo
23°	ventitré	ventitreesimo
26°	ventisei	ventiseiesimo
28°	ventotto	ventottesimo
30°	trenta	trentesimo
33°	trentatré	trentatreesimo
40°	quaranta	quarantesimo
50°	cinquanta	cinquantesimo
66°	sessantasei	sessantaseiesimo
80°	ottanta	ottantesimo
81°	ottantuno	ottantunesimo
99°	novantanove	novantanovesimo
100°	cento	centesimo

Every ordinal here is generated from the same engine as the cardinals and checked against a separate derivation for 1 to 100.

Agreement and position

The Enciclopedia dell’Italiano: ordinals behave like ordinary adjectives and agree in gender and number: il primo giorno, la prima volta, i primi anni, le prime pagine. They usually go before the noun, and after it for kings and popes (Vittorio Emanuele II, Paolo VI) or to stress a sequence (atto secondo, scena quarta). They often stand alone: frequentare la prima, to be in the first year at school.

Roman numerals

Italian uses Roman numerals for rulers and popes, and for centuries: il XVII secolo is the 1600s, read il diciassettesimo secolo. The centuries from the 1200s also have names of their own (il Novecento for the 1900s), which is a topic for the dates and years page.

Where ordinals are not used

Dates use cardinals except for the first day: il primo maggio but il due maggio. The worksheet generator makes cardinal sheets; ordinals are practised from the tables on this page.

Questions teachers ask

How are Italian ordinal numbers formed after tenth?

From 11 on, take the cardinal, drop its final vowel and add -esimo: undici, undicesimo; venti, ventesimo; cento, centesimo. Treccani’s entry for the suffix -esimo describes it as the suffix of the ordinals, "with the exception of the first numbers, from 1 to 10", which have their own words: primo, secondo, terzo, quarto, quinto, sesto, settimo, ottavo, nono, decimo.

Is 23rd in Italian ventitreesimo or ventitresimo?

ventitreesimo, with two e’s. The final vowel of ventitré is stressed, so it is kept and loses its accent, and -esimo follows: ventitre + esimo. The same applies to every number ending in 3 above 20: trentatreesimo, centotreesimo. Numbers ending in 6 keep their i the same way: ventiseiesimo.

How do you write 1st in Italian with figures?

With the figure and a small raised o for masculine or a for feminine: 1° (primo), 1ª (prima). Treccani’s Enciclopedia dell’Italiano says these marks are not used with Roman numerals, so Paolo VI and il XVII secolo carry none. Informal writing also mixes figures and letters, as in 25esimo, which the same article notes in newspapers.