In linguistics, ordinal numbers are the words representing the rank of a number with respect to some order, in particular order or position (i.e. first, second, third, etc.). Its use may refer to size, importance, chronology, etc. They are adjectives and precede the nouns they are modifying. In grammar, an adjective is a word whose main syntactic role is to modify a noun or pronoun (called the adjectives subject), giving more information about what the noun or pronoun refers to. ... In linguistics, a noun or noun substantive is a lexical category which is defined in terms of how its members combine with other grammatical kinds of expressions. ...

They are different from the cardinal numbers (one, two, three, etc.) referring to the quantity. In English, numbers are pronounced different ways in different regions. ...

Ordinal numbers are alternatively written in English with numerals and letter suffixes: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 11th, 21st, 477th, etc. Dates normally omit the suffix, although it is nevertheless pronounced. For examples: 4 July 1776 (pronounced "the fourth of July ... "); July 4, 1776, ("July fourth ..."); and (Metric) 1776 July 4 ("... July fourth"). When written out in full with "of", however, the suffix is retained: the 4th of July.

In American Sign Language, the ordinal numbers 1 through 9 are made similarly to cardinal numbers except that they add a little twist of the wrist^{[verification needed]}. It has been suggested that ASL Grammar be merged into this article or section. ...

See also

• Ordinal number for the related, but more formal and abstract, usage in mathematics
• Ordinal indicator for more conventions for writing ordinal numbers (super-scripting)