This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK.
Unbox Brit Box and stream the best of British TV.
Start your free trial at BritBox .com.
I'm Nicola Cochlin and for BBC Radio 4, this is history's youngest heroes.
Rebellion, risk and the radical power of youth.
She thought, right, I'll just do it.
She thought about others rather than herself.
12 stories of extraordinary young people from across history.
There's a real sense of urgency in them.
That resistance has to be mounted, it has to be mounted now.
Follow history's youngest heroes wherever you get your podcasts.
And today we're talking about ordinal numbers.
Yeah, so numbers like first, second and third.
So let's start by listening to Lawrence.
He's talking about his 18th birthday party.
While you listen, try to answer this question.
What date was his party?
Here's Lawrence. For my 18th birthday last year, I invited about 60 friends and relatives.
It was on the 25th of May and it was the first time that I ever had a big party.
It was in a restaurant on the third floor of a hotel.
The food was really delicious and I won second prize in the dancing competition.
So, we asked you what date was Lawrence's birthday party?
And the answer is the 25th of May.
That's right. Now, the 25th is an ordinal number like the first and the second.
Ordinal numbers tell us the position of something in a group.
The date's in a month, for example.
Or which birthday it is.
Lawrence said it was his 18th birthday.
Yes, he did. Lucky him.
And ordinal numbers are different to cardinal numbers.
We use cardinal numbers, like one, two, three, for counting and to answer the question, how many?
And to make a cardinal number into an ordinal number, add the letters th to the end of the cardinal number.
18, 18, 60, 60th. And that works for all the cardinal numbers except for first, second and third.
They're irregular. But for all the others, it's add th.
So that's 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th.
So that's good, but in writing we do have a couple of irregular spellings such as 5th, f -i -f -t -h, 8th, 9th, 12th, And for numbers ending in y, like 60, drop the y and add i -e and t -h to make 60th.
S -i -x -t -i -e -t -h Now let's look more closely at dates.
Listen for the date in this clip.
It was on the 25th of May and it was the first time that I ever had a big party.
The 25th of May – when we say the day before the month, we always use the words the and of.
The 25th of May. But when we say the month before the day, we don't use the word of.
It's just May the 25th.
We often use the word the with ordinal numbers, but we can also use possessives.
In this next clip, Lawrence uses the possessive adjective my before 18th.
For my 18th birthday last year, I invited about 60 friends and relatives.
Let's have another clip.
It was in a restaurant on the third floor of a hotel.
The food was really delicious and I won second prize in the dancing competition.
So now we have two more ways of using ordinal numbers, space and quality.
Yes, we do. And the third floor tells us about the position of the floors in space.
It's the same as when we give directions.
For example, take the second left after the traffic lights.
And second prize tells us about the quality.
And a point to make here is that ordinal numbers can be used as adjectives and adverbs without the.
Like in the phrase, he won second prize.
Second is an adjective.
6 Minute Vocabulary from BBC Learning English And now it's quiz time!
Number one. Which of these is correct?
The party's on... a.
30th of July b. The 30th of July c.
The 30th of July And it's c.
The 30th of July Great!
Now, number two. Which word in this list is wrong?
Second Third Ford Fifth And the answer's ford.
It should be ford. Yes it should.
Number three. Which of these is correct?
a. My 21st birthday b.
My 21st birthday c.
The my 21st birthday And the answer's a.
My 21st birthday Well done if you got them right.
But before we go, here's a vocabulary tip.
Try saying your own important and memorable dates in English.
For example, birthdays, anniversaries and festivals.
If the dates are important, you're more likely to remember the English.
There's more about this at bbclearningenglish .com.
Join us again soon for more 6 Minute Vocabulary.
Bye! Hugh McFadyan and more of Britain's brightest talent.
See what's inside. Discover something remarkable and uncover what perhaps you were looking for all along.
Unbox BritBox and stream the best of British TV.
Start your free trial at BritBox .com.