Ordinal Numbers in Croatian

First, second, third

Ordinal numbers in Croatian are used to indicate order or position, just like in English. Once you know the cardinal numbers, forming ordinals is easy—just add -i (or -ti for numbers ending in a vowel). For example, pet (five) becomes peti (fifth), and dvanaest (twelve) becomes dvanaesti (twelfth). As adjectives, they change based on gender and case, making them a key part of mastering Croatian grammar!

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How to form ordinal numbers from cardinal numbers?

For all cardinal numbers except the numbers 1, 2, 3 or 4, you can form the ordinal number by simply adding the ending -i to the cardinal number (-ti to numbers that end with a vowel like sto (hundred), dvjesto (two hundred) etc.).

Examples:

The ordinal numbers in Croatian behave just like adjectives which means:

  • they can be either masculine, feminine or neuter by gender
  • they have a singular or plural form
  • they have different endings, depending on case of the noun they refer to.
CARDINAL NUMBER
(GLAVNI BROJ)
ORDINAL NUMBER
(REDNI BROJ)
masculine
(muški rod)
feminine
(ženski rod)
neuter
(srednji rod)
jedan (1)prvi (e.g stan)prva (e.g. kuća)prvo (e.g. pivo)
dva (2)drugidrugadrugo
tri (3)trećitrećatreće
četiri (4)četvrtičetvrtačetvrto
pet (5)petipetapeto
šest (6)šestišestašesto
sedam (7)sedmisedmasedmo
osam (8)osmiosmaosmo
devet (9)devetidevetadeveto
deset (10)desetidesetadeseto
jedanaest (11)jedanaestijedanaestajedanaesto
dvanaest (12)dvanaestidvanaestadvanaesto
sedamnaest (17)sedamnaestisedamnaestasedamnaesto
dvadeset (20)dvadesetidvadesetadvadeseto
četrdeset osam (48)četrdeset osmičetrdeset osmačetrdeset osmo
sto dvadeset dva (122)sto dvadeset drugisto dvadeset drugasto dvadeset drugo
sto (100)stotistotastoto
petsto (500)petstotipetstotapetstoto

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Exercise: How would you say the following?

Neil Armstrong was the first man on the Moon.
→ Neil Armstrong je bio prvi čovjek na Mjesecu.

Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize.
→ Marie Curie je bila prva žena koja je osvojila Nobelovu nagradu.

Not that I’m counting, but this is your third beer today!
→ Nije da brojim, ali ovo ti je već treće pivo danas!

Josip is his fifth child, but the first son.
→ Josip je njegovo prvo dijete, ali prvi sin.

I think we’re the first people who did that!
→ Mislim da smo mi prvi ljudi koji su to napravili!

This is your fourth mistake today.
→ Ovo ti je četvrta pogreška danas.

This is the hundredth time I’m telling you the same thing!
→ Ovo je stoti put da ti govorim istu stvar!

Ivo was my first love.
→ Ivo je bio moja prva ljubav. (ljubav = feminine!)

Sara and Mara are the first women in our company.
→ Sara i Mara su prve žene u našoj firmi.

 


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