Russian Ordinal Numbers

Russian ordinal numbers are used to describe the position of something in a sequence.

They answer the question:

“Which one?”

Examples include:

NumberRussian
1stпервый
2ndвторой
3rdтретий

Ordinal numbers are commonly used when talking about:

  • dates
  • rankings
  • floors in a building
  • chapters or steps in a process

Russian Ordinal Numbers 1–20

Here are the most common Russian ordinal numbers.

NumberRussian
1stпервый
2ndвторой
3rdтретий
4thчетвёртый
5thпятый
6thшестой
7thседьмой
8thвосьмой
9thдевятый
10thдесятый
11thодиннадцатый
12thдвенадцатый
13thтринадцатый
14thчетырнадцатый
15thпятнадцатый
16thшестнадцатый
17thсемнадцатый
18thвосемнадцатый
19thдевятнадцатый
20thдвадцатый

Gender Forms in Russian Ordinal Numbers

Russian ordinal numbers behave like adjectives and change depending on gender.

Example with первый (first):

FormRussian
masculineпервый
feminineпервая
neuterпервое
pluralпервые

Example sentence:

Это мой первый день.

Meaning:

This is my first day.

Forming Russian Ordinal Numbers

Many Russian ordinal numbers are formed from cardinal numbers by adding an ending.

Examples:

десять → десятый
двадцать → двадцатый
тридцать → тридцатый

These endings change depending on the gender and grammatical case in the sentence.


Using Ordinal Numbers in Russian

Ordinal numbers appear in many everyday expressions.

Examples:

второй этаж
(the second floor)
третья страница
(the third page)
десятая глава
(the tenth chapter)

Ordinal Numbers in Russian Dates

Ordinal numbers are often used when speaking about dates in Russian.

Example:

четвёртое марта

Meaning:

the fourth of March

Example sentence:

Сегодня четвёртое марта.

Most written dates still appear as numbers.

Example:

4 марта 2026

For more information about Russian dates, check out our Russian Dates page.


Practice Russian Ordinal Numbers

You can practice Russian numbers using the tools below.

Try Our Russian Numbers Interactive Translate Tool

Example: 1234


Test Your Knowledge. Take the Russian Numbers Quiz


Related Russian Pages

Further reference: Gramota.ru on numerals.