Arabic Ordinal Number Converter

Convert cardinal to ordinal numbers in Arabic with gender agreement

Convert any cardinal number to its Arabic ordinal form (الأول، الثاني، الحادي عشر …) with full masculine and feminine agreement, handling the irregular first, the teens, and compound values, entirely in your browser.

Why is the first ordinal different from the others?

الأول (masculine) and الأولى (feminine) are suppletive — they do not derive from the cardinal واحد. From the second onward, ordinals follow the regular فاعِل pattern (الثاني، الثالث …), so only the first is irregular.

Cardinal numbers, written as Arabic ordinals

Ordinal numbers — first, second, third — let you express order and position. In Arabic they are not simply the cardinal plus a suffix: the first is irregular, the rest follow a fixed pattern, and every form must agree in gender with the noun it describes. This tool produces the correct Arabic ordinal for any number you enter, in the gender you choose.

How it works

The first ordinal is stored directly because it is suppletive: الأول for masculine, الأولى for feminine. Ordinals from second to tenth follow the فاعِل pattern, built from the cardinal root, with the feminine adding a ـة ending. The tool keeps both gender tables and selects the form you ask for.

For the teens, the unit takes its ordinal stem and the tens word عشر (m.) or عشرة (f.) follows, both agreeing in gender — so 11th is الحادي عشر or الحادية عشرة. For compound values the unit ordinal and the tens are joined with و:

21st (m) = الحادي والعشرون
33rd (f) = الثالثة والثلاثون

Hundreds and the thousand are added with و before the lower part, giving forms like المئة والثالث.

Tips and notes

Pick the gender that matches the noun: a feminine noun like سنة (year) takes the feminine ordinal (السنة الثالثة), while a masculine noun like فصل (chapter) takes the masculine (الفصل الثالث). The unit for eleven is حادي / حادية, never أول, so 11th is الحادي عشر — a point machines and learners often get wrong. To spell a number as a plain cardinal instead, use the Arabic Number to Words tool.