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Like English, Russian distinguishes between cardinal and ordinal numerals.
Cardinal numbers
You already know cardinal numbers 1 through 1000. Of the cardinal numerals only
один changes it's ending to agree with the noun (один
карандаш, одна ручка,
одно письмо, одни
брюки) and два changes it's form to agree
with the feminine nouns (две книги).
Ordinal numerals
Ordinal numerals function like adjectives: they agree with their head word
(noun or pronoun) in gender, number and case. They function like English
numbers first, second, third, etc. Here is the list of ordinal numbers 1-10.
Click each ordinal number to listen. Repeat the numbers, imitating their
pronunciation. Note vowels reduction.
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Masculine forms
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Feminine, Neuter and Plural endings
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Translation
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первый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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first
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второй
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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second
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третий
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(-ья, -ье, -ьи)
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third
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четвёртый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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fourth
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пятый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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fifth
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шестой
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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sixth
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седьмой
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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seventh
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восьмой
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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eighth
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девятый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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ninth
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десятый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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tenth
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Notes
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Adjectives spelling rules apply to ordinal numbers. For example, if an
adjective has end stress, it's masculine form ends on -ой (второй,
-ая, -ое, -ые).
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You must memorize feminine, neuter and plural endings for the word
третий (третья, третье, третьи). It is a soft stem
adjective, but it's endings are slightly different from regular soft stem
adjective endings (-ья, -ье, -ьи instead of
-яя, -ее, -ие).
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Listen to the ordinal numbers 11-20. Repeat the numbers, imitating their
pronunciation. Note vowels reduction.
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Masculine forms
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Feminine, Neuter and Plural endings
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Translation
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одиннадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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eleventh
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двенадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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twelfth
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тринадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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thirteenth
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четырнадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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fourteenth
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пятнадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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fifteenth
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шестнадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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sixteenth
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семнадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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seventeenth
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восемнадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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eighteenth
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девятнадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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nineteenth
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двадцатый
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(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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twentieth
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Notes
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Ordinal numbers 11-20 are not difficult to memorize if you have learned the
corresponding cardinal numbers 11-20. They are very much the same. You should
simply replace -ь with the appropriate adjective ending. Compare:
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Cardinal
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Ordinal
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одиннадцать
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одиннадцатый
(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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двенадцать
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двенадцатый
(-ая, -ое, -ые)
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Listen as many times as you need, read the numbers aloud at least three
times each and memorize them.
Compound ordinal numbers
Compound ordinal numbers are formed by placing simple numbers in sequence. But only
a final component of a compound ordinal numeral is an ordinal.
The rest are cardinals. Here are some examples of compound ordinal numbers:
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сто двадцать четвёртая страница
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the hundred and twenty forth page
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тысяча девятьсот семнадцатый год
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the year of 1917
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тысяча девятьсот девяносто первый
год
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the year of 1991
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Notes
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When talking about years, there is no way to say "nineteen
seventeen" or "nineteen ninety one" in Russian. You have to say
the whole sequence of numbers, and the last number in that sequence must be
ordinal (it is like saying one thousand nine hundred seventeenth year
for "the year of 1917").
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More details on Russian numbers you will get latter on.
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