Numeral adjectives are divided into three categories: cardinal, ordinal and multiplicative: find out how to form and use them thanks to this great lesson!
Italian Numeral Adjectives
The numeral adjectives indicate the exact quantity of the name they refer to.
In Italian, there are 3 different categories of numeral adjectives: cardinal, ordinal, multiplicative.
- CARDINAL → they indicate the quantity number of the noun they refer to. In order to know them better, you can watch our lesson about Italian numbers!
- ORDINAL → they indicate the ranking, the place that something or someone occupies in a numeral series.
Two things you must know about ordinal numbers are:
– when we have to write an ordinal number, we use the cardinal number + the symbol °
– differently from cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers agree in gender and number with the referring noun
The first 10 must be learnt by heart as they are, because there are no rules to form them.
Here you are the ordinal numbers from 1 to 10 (irregular):
| in numbers | in letters |
| 1° | primo |
| 2° | secondo |
| 3° | terzo |
| 4° | quarto |
| 5° | quinto |
| 6° | sesto |
| 7° | settimo |
| 8° | ottavo |
| 9° | nono |
| 10° | decimo |
Examples:
Maria è stata la prima ragazza a comprare la rivista. (Maria was the first girl who bought the magazine)
Paolo è stato il secondo fidanzato di Chiara. (Paolo was Chiara’s second boyfriend)
Al concorso di poesia, Francesco e Stefania sono arrivati settimi. (At the poetry contest, Francesco and Stefania arrived seventh)
From 11 on, instead, you should add the suffix -ESIMO to the root* of the corresponding cardinal number (regular):
*in order to find the root, remove the last letter of the number.
Examples:
12° = DODICI + ESIMO = DODICESIMO (twelfth)
37° = TRENTASETTE + ESIMO = TRENTASETTESIMO (thirty-seventh)
Siamo arrivati trentasettesimi su 40! Che sfortuna! (We arrived 37th out of 40! Bad luck!)
Those numbers with 6 are an exception to this rule, since they maintain the last letter (otherwise there would be the clash of the two “E”)!
26° = VENTISEI + ESIMO = VENTISEIESIMO (twenty-sixth)
BE CAREFUL!
Sometimes ordinal numbers can be represented by Roman numerals! This happens especially to express centuries, Popes or sovereigns.
| Traditional numbers | Roman numerals |
| 1 | I |
| 2 | II |
| 3 | III |
| 4 | IV |
| 5 | V |
| 6 | VI |
| 7 | VII |
| 8 | VIII |
| 9 | IX |
| 10 | X |
| Traditional numbers | Roman numerals |
| 11 | XI |
| 12 | XII |
| 13 | XIII |
| 14 | XIV |
| 15 | XV |
| 16 | XVI |
| 17 | XVII |
| 18 | XVIII |
| 19 | XIX |
| 20 | XX |
| Traditional numbers | Roman numerals |
| 40 | XL |
| 50 | L |
| 59 | LIX |
| 60 | LX |
| 68 | LXVIII |
| 70 | LXX |
| 80 | LXXX |
| 85 | LXXXV |
| 90 | XC |
| 100 | C |
| 1000 | M |
Examples:
Luigi XIV (= quattordicesimo) è noto come il Re Sole. (Louis XIV is known as the Sun King)
Attualmente viviamo nel XXI (= ventunesimo) secolo. (We currently live in the XXI century)
N.B.
Even ultimo, penultimo, terzultimo… (last, penultimate, third before last…) are considered to be ordinal numbers.
Doubts about how to agree the adjectives? Not with us!
- MULTIPLICATIVE → they indicate how many times is a quantity bigger than an other one:
due volte = DOPPIO (twice = double)
tre volte = TRIPLO (three times = triple)
quattro volte = QUADRUPLO (four times = quadruple)
cinque volte = QUINTUPLO (five times = quintuple)
After “quintuplo”, multiplicative numbers aren’t used anymore, but it is better to use directly “sei volte”, “sette volte”, “otto volte”… (six times, seven times, eight times…)
Multiplicative numbers vary for both gender and number.
For example:
Ho pagato il doppio del denaro ma ho ricevuto un servizio peggiore. (I payed double the money but I received a worse service)
Faccio sempre i tripli salti mortali per finire tutto presto. (I always do backflips to finish everything early)
Questa casa è otto volte più grande della mia! (This house is eight times bigger than mine!)
N.B. Even those nouns and expressions indicating a quantity number are considered to be numeral adjectives:
- a uno a uno, due per volta, tre alla volta… (one by one, two at a time, three at a time…)
- un terzo, due quinti… (a third, two fifths…)
- paio, coppia, decina, dozzina, centinaio, migliaio, biennio, triennio, ventennio, bimestre, trimestre… (pair, couple, about ten, dozen, hundred, thousand, two-year period, three-year period, two decades, two months, trimester…)
Examples:
Bambini, uscite due per volta dalla classe! (Kids, leave the classroom two at a time!)
Tre quinti delle persone in questa stanza hanno gli occhi verdi. (Three fifths of the people in this room have green eyes)
Una decina di giorni fa ero a Roma. (About ten days ago I was in Rome)
Questo trimestre è stato molto produttivo per la nostra azienda. (This trimester has been very productive for our company)
Watch all our lessons!
