Look at these names of kings, queens, popes:
Le pape Benoît seize a démissionné.
The pope Benedict the sixteenth resigned.
Elisabeth deux est la reine d'Angleterre.
Elisabeth the second is queen of England.
Louis quatorze était surnommé Le Roi Soleil.
Louis the fourteenth's nickname was The Sun King.
Notice that cardinal numbers (deux, trois, quatre...) are used for royalty where ordinals (second, third, fourth...) are used in English, except for 1st = Ier / premier:
ATTENTION:
Examples and resources
J'ai bu un tiers de la bouteille.
I drank a third of the bottle.
Louis onze était un bon roi.
Louis the eleventh was a good king.
François Ier protégea Léonard de Vinci.
François I protected Leonardo Da Vinci.
Nous devons utiliser une tierce personne comme témoin.
We must use a third party as a witness.
Le pape Benoît seize a démissionné.
The pope Benedict the sixteenth resigned.
Mon troisième enfant est né en septembre.
My third child was born in September.
Louis quatorze était surnommé Le Roi Soleil.
Louis the fourteenth's nickname was The Sun King.
Je suis arrivé troisième du marathon.
I came third in the marathon.
Elisabeth deux est la reine d'Angleterre.
Elisabeth the second is queen of England.
tiers/tierce
Il y a beaucoup de pauvreté dans le Tiers-Monde.
There is a lot of poverty in Third World countries.
Q&A

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
8/12/18
Hi Bill,
If you look at my answer to Robin, it might clarify things for you....

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
21/11/18
Hi Robin,
In the case of one third , meaning 33.33% (1/3) of something, the word tiers is 'un mot invariable' and doesn't agree with the noun it applies to(or the person speaking)
e.g.
Un tiers des électeurs ne s'est pas déplacé pour voter = One third of the electorate didn't go and vote
Un tiers de la famille a été décimé par les inondations = One third of the family was decimated by the floods
Un tiers de la foule était composé de femmes = A third of the crowd was made up of women
Hope this helps!
Robin
Kwiziq community member
21/11/18

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
8/12/18
Hi Robin,
The adjective 'tiers/tierce' will only be used in certain expressions like 'tierce personne' or 'tierce partie' to mean a third party -
Also in the following expressions -
Le tiers-monde = The third World
Le Tiers-état = The third estate/tier of society
The noun 'tierce' is used in some card games to denote three cards following each other.
It has very limited use...
Hope this helps!
Robin
Kwiziq community member
8/12/18
Alan
Kwiziq community member
19/07/18
Hi David,
I'm sure you're right that the "third" in "Third World" refers to an order rather than a fraction.
I think the reason that "tiers" is used is probably historical. Although "Third World" is a relatively recent term it was coined from the much older expression "Third Estate" - "le tiers-état".
I imagine at the time when that term was created the language was rather different and "tiers" could be used to mean 3rd in sequence.
David
Kwiziq community member
19/07/18

Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
20/07/18
Thank you Alan for this excellent answer.
I was discussing this question posed by David with some French people yesterday as I have to admit I had never asked myself since in my mind it only designates a status and I learnt that there is another term 'le quart-monde'.
After a bit of research it appears that 'le quart-monde' was coined in 1969 to designate people under the threshold of poverty. It is wonderful to learn something new. If you are interested, take a peak at:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quart-monde
all in French I am afraid but good practice.

Paul
Kwiziq community member
9/03/18

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
12/03/18
Bonjour Paul !
The expression is une tierce personne as in a third party in English. It's usually used in a legal context for example.
I cannot really think of other cases when we use tierce, as tiers is the one you used when expressing a fraction, hence in most cases:
un tiers, deux tiers...
Un tiers du monde -> a third of the world
I hope that's helpful!
Bonne journée !

Paul
Kwiziq community member
12/03/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
2/02/18
Yes, "la bouteille" is feminine but "un tiers" is masculine. So "un tiers de la bouteille".
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
steven
Kwiziq community member
19/04/18

Michelle
Kwiziq community member
31/10/18
Gio
Kwiziq community member
3/01/18

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
3/01/18

Ron
Kwiziq community member
9/10/17

Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
15/05/17

Laura
Kwiziq language super star
12/11/15
Rebeca
Kwiziq community member
26/04/17
Nigel
Kwiziq community member
16/01/18
Michael
Kwiziq community member
13 December 2018
4 replies
What is done for, as example, Queen Elizabeth the 1st?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
13 December 2018
13/12/18
Michael
Kwiziq community member
13 December 2018
13/12/18
Chris
Kwiziq community member
14 December 2018
14/12/18
Michael
Kwiziq community member
14 December 2018
14/12/18