Italian All-in-One For Dummies (14 page)

Putting Things in Order: Ordinal Numbers

To express the order, placement, or sequence of things (such as first, fourth, and eighth), you use
ordinal numbers.
Unlike cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers agree in gender with the nouns or pronouns they modify.

Table 2-2
lists examples of ordinal numbers in Italian. Note that for numbers one through ten, the ordinal numbers are irregular, meaning they don't follow the pattern of simply adding
-esimo
(
eh
-see-moh) to their cardinal form. You'll have to memorize these.

From 11 to infinity, you form ordinal numbers by dropping the final vowel of cardinal numbers and adding
-esimo,
with stress on the
e.
Here are some examples:

dodicesimo
(
12th
) (doh-dee-
cheh
-see-moh)

trentaquattresimo
(
34th
) (
trehn
-tah-kwaht-
treh
-see-moh)

centesimo
(
100th
) (chehn-
teh
-see-moh)

The only exception to this rule is a cardinal number that ends in
-tré.
In this case, you retain the final vowel, but the stress doesn't change:

ventitreesimo
(
23rd
) (
vehnt
-tee-treh-
eh
-see-moh)

cinquantatreesimo
(
53rd
) (cheen-
kwahn
-tah-treh-
eh
-see-moh)

Table 2-2 Ordinal Numbers

Here are several things to keep in mind when using ordinal numbers:

You want to make sure the ordinal number that precedes a noun agrees in number and gender with that noun. For example:

È la quarta persona nella fila.
(eh lah
kwahr
-tah pehr-
soh
-nah
nehl
-lah
fee
-lah.) (
He is the fourth person in line.
)

Questo è il nono figlio!
(
kweh
-stoh eh eel
noh
-noh
fee
-lyoh!) (
This is the ninth son!
)

prima donna
(
pree
-mah
dohn
-nah) (
first lady
)

i primi libri
(ee
pree
-mee
lee
-bree) (
the first books
)

To indicate something that has happened for the umpteenth time, you can use
ennesimo/ennesima.
Note that in the following example,
ennesima
is feminine and singular, as is the noun it modifies,
volta.

È l'ennesima volta che me ne parla.
(eh lehn-
neh
-see-mah
vohl
-tah keh meh neh
pahr
-lah.) (
It's the umpteenth time he has talked to me about it.
)

To refer to someone whose title carries a number (such as a king like Henry II), you use Roman numerals in English and say, “Henry the Second.” In Italian, you may also use a Roman numeral, but you don't use the article.

Enrico Secondo
(ehn-
ree
-koh seh-
kohn
-doh) (
Henry the Second; Henry II
)

Carlo Quinto
(
kahr
-loh
kween
-toh) (
Charles the Fifth; Charles V
)

You can abbreviate ordinal numbers by placing an
o
or an
a
in a raised, or superscript, position to agree in gender with what you're talking about. For example:

1
o
piano
(
pree
-moh
pyah
-noh) (
1st floor)

5
a
casa
(
kween
-tah
kah
-sah) (
5th house)

Looking at the Calendar: Days, Months, and Seasons

In this day and age, to keep track of appointments or social events (for yourself and others), you need a calendar. To talk about when an event occurs or what date marks a special anniversary, you need to know the days of the week and months of the year in Italian. This section provides all the info you need to know to navigate the calendar and the seasons in Italian.

Days of the week

In English, you generally start naming the days of the week with Sunday, and you end the week with Saturday. In Italian, however, you begin with
Monday
(
lunedì
) (looh-neh-
dee
) and end with
Sunday
(
domenica
) (doh-
meh
-nee-kah), which is how the days are organized in
Table 2-3
. Note that in Italian, the days aren't capitalized as they are in English, unless they begin a sentence.

Table 2-3 Days of the Week