Ordinal indicator facts for kids

An ordinal indicator is a special symbol or group of letters that comes after a number. It shows that the number is an ordinal number, like "first" or "second," instead of a cardinal number, like "one" or "two."

In English, you often see these as suffixes like -st, -nd, -rd, and -th. For example, we write 1st (first), 2nd (second), 3rd (third), and 4th (fourth). Sometimes, these letters are written as small, raised text, like 1^st or 2^nd.

You might also see the small, raised symbols º and ª. These come from Romance languages like Italian. They became popular in Western Europe by the 1700s. For example, in Italian, 1º means "first" (masculine) and 1ª means "first" (feminine).

How Ordinal Indicators Are Used

Ordinal indicators help us understand the order of things. Different languages use them in slightly different ways.

Using º and ª in Other Languages

In languages like Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Galician, the symbols º and ª are added to numbers. Which one is used depends on the grammatical gender of the word the number describes.

• The symbol º (masculine ordinal indicator) is used for masculine words.
• The symbol ª (feminine ordinal indicator) is used for feminine words.

Sometimes, these symbols might even be underlined, depending on the font you are reading.

Ordinal Indicator vs. Degree Sign

The masculine ordinal indicator º (U+00BA) looks very similar to the degree sign ° (U+00B0). It's easy to confuse them!

• The degree sign (°) is a perfect circle and is never underlined. We use it for things like temperature (20°C) or angles (90°).
• The ordinal indicator (º) is often shaped more like a small letter "o." It can be oval or elliptical, and it might have varying line thickness. It can also be underlined.

Examples in Italian and Spanish

Here are some examples of how ordinal indicators are used in Italian:

• 1º primo means "first" (masculine).
• 2º secondo means "second" (masculine).
• 3º terzo means "third" (masculine).

Galician also uses ordinal numbers in a similar way.

In Spanish and Portuguese, there's a special rule for "first" and "third" when they come before a masculine singular noun.

• "First" (masculine) is usually primero, but before a masculine noun, it shortens to primer. Its abbreviation is 1.^er.
• "Third" (masculine) is usually tercero, but before a masculine noun, it shortens to tercer. Its abbreviation is 3.^er.

For feminine nouns, the full forms primera and tercera are used. Their abbreviations are 1.ª and 3.ª. In Spanish and Portuguese, a period "." is placed before the ordinal indicator in abbreviations.

Images for kids

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  This image shows the difference between the ordinal indicator (left) and the degree sign (right).

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  This image shows how the ordinal indicator aligns with other text.

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  This image compares the ordinal indicator with other raised characters.

See also

In Spanish: Indicador ordinal para niños