Pronunciation: [ˈɔːdɪnə͡lz] (IPA) 
The word "ordinals" refers to the numerical adjectives that indicate position or order in a sequence. It is spelled as /ˈɔːdɪnəlz/, with the stress on the second syllable. The first syllable is pronounced as "or" like the conjunction "or". The "d" is pronounced with a slight "uh" sound, and the "i" is pronounced as "ih" like "sit". The "n" is pronounced as "nuh", and the final syllable is pronounced as "uhlz", rhyming with "hurdles".
Ordinals are a type of grammatical category used to express the positioning or order of items or individuals within a sequence or series. They indicate the rank, importance, or sequence of objects, events, or persons relative to one another. Ordinals are a specific subset of adjectives that convey the notion of order or placement.
In English, ordinals are formed by adding a suffix to the cardinal numbers. For instance, the ordinal form of "one" is "first," "two" is "second," "three" is "third," and so on. Some common rules for creating ordinals include adding the suffix "-th" to the cardinal numbers from four to nineteen (e.g., "fourth," "fifth," "sixth"). For numbers above 20, the ending "-th" is added to the last digit (e.g., "twenty-fourth," "thirty-first," "forty-second").
Ordinals are widely used in various contexts, such as ranking sports teams in a tournament, describing the order of finishing in a race, indicating the chronological order of historical events, or organizing a list of steps in a process. They allow for clear and precise communication when indicating placement or sequence, as they provide a specific and distinct form for each position in a series.
Understanding ordinals is essential for effective communication, particularly when conveying information that requires a sequential or comparative understanding. They play a fundamental role in describing the order of elements within a set, making them an indispensable concept in language.
* The statistics data for these misspellings percentages are collected from over 15,411,110 spell check sessions on www.spellchecker.net from Jan 2010 - Jun 2012.
The word "ordinals" has its etymology rooted in the Latin language. It is derived from the Latin word "ordinalis", which is formed from "ordo" meaning "order" or "sequence". In Latin, "ordinalis" was used specifically to describe numbers that indicate the order or position of something in a series or sequence. Eventually, this term was adopted into English, where it refers to numbers that express rank, position, or order, such as first, second, third, etc.
