Beware not to mix up fractions (to describe a part of a whole: half, third, fourth...) and ordinal numbers (to describe an order/rank: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ...).
For ordinal numbers, see Ordinal numbers - 1st/2nd/10th/etc - in French.
Learn about fractions in French
Look at these examples of fractions:
un cinquième1/5 - one fifth
deux cinquièmes2/5 - two fifths
seize vingtièmes16/20 - sixteen twentieths
To express fractions in French, you usually use both cardinal (un/deux/trois...) and ordinal numbers (premier/cinquième...) the same way as in English (one fifth).
Note also that just like in English, the second number is plural if the first is.
ATTENTION:
Here are the irregular fractional numbers:
And now for some examples of fractions in sentences:
un demi1/2
un tiers 1/3
deux tiers 2/3
trois quarts3/4
un quart1/4
Ajoutez un tiers d'eau à la pâte.Add a third of water to the mix.
Dix pour cent représente un dixième du total.10 per cent represents one tenth of the total.
Les invités ont mangé les deux tiers du gâteau.The guests have eaten 2/3 of the cake.
Un quart des étudiants vivent à la maison.
Un quart des étudiants vit à la maison.One quarter of students live at home.
-> In this last example, note that in such cases, you can conjugate the verb either in singular (collective one quarter) or plural (several students)
Un quart des étudiants vit à la maison.One quarter of students live at home.
You can also practise the different ways to express "half" in French with the following lesson: Demi/moitié/etc = Half in French
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Examples and resources
Un quart des étudiants vit à la maison.One quarter of students live at home.
