Numbers

Numbers are one kind of determiner. In terms of meaning, numbers are similar to quantifier determiners, but most grammarians treat them separately.

Numbers can be "cardinal" (one, two, three) or "ordinal" (first, second, third), as shown in this table:

	cardinal	ordinal
1	one	first	1st
2	two	second	2nd
3	three	third	3rd
10	ten	tenth	10th
21	twenty-one	twenty-first	21st
99	ninety-nine	ninety-ninth	99th
100	one hundred	one hundredth	100th
1000	one thousand	one thousandth	1000th
etc	see more cardinal and ordinal numbers

Like all determiners, numbers come at the beginning of a noun phrase, so they come in front of any adjective(s).

Look at these example sentences:

• I ordered two cakes.
• There were three hundred angry people present.
• Jane won first prize and Jo won third prize.
• They have just produced their one millionth sports car.

When used together in a noun phrase, ordinals normally come before cardinals.

• The first three prizes went to the same family.