Ordinal number converter, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and more.

An ordinal number converter turns a counting number into a position: 1 becomes 1st, 2 becomes 2nd, 3 becomes 3rd and 4 becomes 4th. A cardinal number says how many, as in three apples. An ordinal says which one in order, as in the third apple. This converter gives the correct ending for any whole number, writes the ordinal out in words, and handles a list, a range or a whole text at once.

How to use the ordinal converter

1. Under Numbers, type one number, such as 21, or several with a comma and a space between them, or one per line.
2. Read the big card: the ordinal, the words and the rule that picked the ending. With a list you get a table instead.
3. Choose A range, type From and To, or click a preset like 1 to 31, to list many ordinals. Tick Show the words too for the spelled form.
4. Choose Text and paste a sentence. Every plain whole number in it gets an ending.
5. Pick Write the ending as for plain letters, superscript letters or an HTML tag. Tick British words with "and" for one hundred and first.
6. Copy result copies one line, Copy list copies one ordinal per line, and Copy link copies a link with your numbers in it.

The rule for the ending

Look at the last two digits. If they are 11, 12 or 13, the ending is th. If not, look at the last digit alone.

Worked examples

• 21. It ends in 1, and the last two digits are 21, not 11. So 21st, or twenty-first.
• 112. The last two digits are 12, so the ending is th: 112th. In words that is one hundred twelfth, or one hundred and twelfth in British style.
• 1,003. It ends in 3 and not 13: 1003rd, one thousand third.
• 40. The word forty drops its y: fortieth. Four is fourth, but forty is fortieth, with no u.
• 2th. Wrong. The number ends in 2, so the ending is nd: 2nd. Type 1th or 2th in the Numbers box and the converter shows the right form.
• 0. Zero is written 0th, zeroth. It turns up in maths and in computing, where counting often starts at zero.

Ordinals in words

Only the last word of a number changes, and a few change in odd ways. First, second, third, fifth, eighth, ninth and twelfth are irregular. Words ending in y, such as twenty and ninety, change to twentieth and ninetieth. Everything else just takes th: fourth, tenth, hundredth, thousandth, millionth. In a number like 345 the earlier words stay as they are: three hundred forty-fifth. The words go up to 999 trillion. Longer numbers still get the right digit ending.

Writing the ending

The ending can sit on the line, as in 21st, or be raised, as in 21ˢᵗ. Raised letters are a style choice, and some places like them and some do not. The superscript option writes them with real raised letters you can paste anywhere. The HTML option gives 21^st for a web page.

Converting a text

In Text mode every standalone whole number gets an ending, and wrong endings are fixed. Her 21 birthday becomes Her 21st birthday. Decimals like 3.5, times like 10:30, money, percents, ranges like 3-5 and dates with slashes are left alone. A number that is a quantity rather than a position, such as a room number, would be changed too, so read the result before you use it.

Common problems

• A negative number or a decimal. Ordinals are positions, so only whole numbers from 0 up work. Such numbers are listed as left out.
• A comma in the middle. 1,250 is read as one thousand two hundred fifty. Use a comma and a space between different numbers.
• A year. A year is a name rather than a position, so you would not write 2025th. A year as a position, like the 2025th day, would be.

To spell any number out, use number to words. For Roman numerals try the Roman numeral converter, and to turn a date count into days use the day of the year calculator.