Look at these examples. Can you spot the grammar pattern?
הוא גר בקומה הראשונה.
He lives on the first floor.
זה היום השני של הסמינר.
This is the second day of the seminar.
הוא סיים במקום השלישי.
He finished in third place.
Pay attention to the highlighted parts. What do they have in common?
Ordinal numbers agree with the noun in gender: ראשון/ראשונה (rishon/rishona, first), שני/שנייה (sheni/shniya, second), שלישי/שלישית (shlishi/shlishit, third). Like adjectives, they follow the noun and take the definite article: היום הראשון (ha-yom ha-rishon, the first day), הקומה השנייה (ha-koma ha-shniya, the second floor). Where English keeps one fixed form (first, second), each Hebrew ordinal has separate masculine and feminine forms.
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises
Practice ExercisesOrdinal number does not agree in gender with the noun it modifies.
Missing definite article ה- on ordinal when the noun is definite.
הוא גר בקומה הראשונה.
He lives on the first floor.
ראשונה — feminine, agreeing with קומה (floor, f).
זה היום השני של הסמינר.
This is the second day of the seminar.
השני — masculine ordinal with definite article, agreeing with יום (day, m).
הוא סיים במקום השלישי.
He finished in third place.
שלישי — masculine, agreeing with מקום (place, m).
Practice in course
Apply this grammar in A1 course exercises