Romanian Numbers - Ordinal Numbers - Reverse Order

Reverse Order

In certain situations the word order in expressing the ordinal number is reversed. This occurs when the object is not necessarily perceived as an element in a sequence but rather as an indexed object. For example, instead of al treilea secol the expression secolul al treilea "third century" is used. Note that the noun must have the definite article appended. Other examples:

• etajul al cincilea "fifth floor";
• partea a doua "second part, part two";
• volumul al treilea "third volume, volume three";
• grupa a patra "fourth group".

For simplification, often the cardinal number replaces the ordinal number, although some grammarians criticize this practice: The form secolul douăzeci is seen as an incorrect variant of secolul al douăzecilea "20th century".

For number 1, the form of the ordinal number in this reverse-order construction is întâi (or întîi), in both genders: deceniul întâi "first decade", clasa întâi "first grade". For the feminine, sometimes întâia is used, which until recently used to be considered incorrect by normative works.

The same reverse order is used when naming historical figures:

• Carol I (read Carol Întâi);
• Carol al II-lea (read Carol al Doilea).

As seen above, ordinal numbers are often written using Roman numerals, especially in this reverse order case. The ending specific to the ordinal numbers (-lea, -a) must be preserved and connected to the Roman numeral with a hyphen. Examples:

• secolul al XIX-lea "19th century";
• clasa a V-a "5th grade";
• volumul I, volumul al II-lea "volume I, II".