Beware not to mix up ordinal numbers (to describe an order/rank: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ...) and fractions (to describe a part of a whole: half, third, fourth...).
For fractions, see Expressing fractions - general (numbers).
Look at these ordinal numbers:
| English | French | Long-hand |
| 1st | 1er / 1re | premier (masc), première (fem) |
| 2nd | 2e / 2d / 2de | deuxième / second (masc), seconde (fem) |
| 3rd | 3e | troisième |
| 4th | 4e | quatrième |
| 9th | 9e | neuvième |
Note that apart from premier/première, and second/e, ordinal numbers are formed as follows:
(stripping off any mute -e if there is one first)
ATTENTION:
The -f of neuf becomes a -v in neuvième, simply to ease the pronunciation.
Now listen to these examples:
Je préfère la première robe.
I prefer the first dress.
Il a fini le troisième exercice.
He finished the third exercise.
Je suis arrivé sixième au marathon.
I came sixth at the marathon.
When to use deuxième vs second/e ?
On aime la deuxième chanson de l'album.
We like the second song of the album.
Il y avait deux gâteaux sur la table: j'en ai mangé un, tu as mangé le second.
There were two cakes on the table: I ate one, you ate the second one.
- Use second/e if there are only two options.
Ordinal numbers = 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc.
Examples and resources
Je suis arrivé sixième au marathon.
I came sixth at the marathon.
On aime la deuxième chanson de l'album.
We like the second song of the album.
Il y avait deux gâteaux sur la table: j'en ai mangé un, tu as mangé le second.
There were two cakes on the table: I ate one, you ate the second one.
Il a fini le troisième exercice.
He finished the third exercise.
J'ai réussi la neuvième fois.
I managed the ninth time.
Je préfère la première robe.
I prefer the first dress.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
22 December 2016
1 reply
Joakim asked : why one says "tiers monde" rather than "troisième monde" ?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
22 December 2016
22/12/16
The expression "le Tiers Monde" to say "the Third World" is fixed as it is in English: this is the only way to say this in French.
"Le Troisième Monde" would feel like there are more than one world, i.e. one planet, when here it's more of a division of the world into three "parts", hence the use of the fraction here.
À bientôt !