In short

Cardinal numbers (lesson 12) count how many — three books, five girls. Ordinal numbers say which one in order — the first book, the third floor. Modern Hebrew builds the ordinals “first” through “tenth” as ordinary adjectives, so they behave like everything you learned in lesson 7: the ordinal comes after its noun, agrees with it in gender, and repeats the article ה־ when the noun is definite. So “the first house” is הבית הראשון (ha-bayit ha-rishon) — two ha-, noun then ordinal.

Each ordinal has a masculine form ending in ־י (-i) and a feminine form, mostly ending in ־ית (-it): שלישי / שלישית (shlishi / shlishit, “third”). Two forms break the mould — ראשון / ראשונה (rishon / rishona, “first”) comes from ראש (rosh, “head”), not from the cardinal אחד; and the feminine “second” is שנייה (shniya), with ־ה, not ־ית.

The rule

An ordinal is an adjective — it follows its noun. Put the noun first and the ordinal second, the same order as any adjective (lesson 7): הבית הראשון (ha-bayit ha-rishon, “the first house”), הפעם השנייה (ha-pa’am ha-shniya, “the second time”), השיעור הרביעי (ha-shiur ha-revi’i, “the fourth lesson”). Never front it — הראשון הבית is not Hebrew.

It agrees in gender. Use the ־י form with a masculine noun and the ־ית form with a feminine noun, choosing by the noun’s real gender (lesson 3): הקומה השלישית (ha-koma ha-shlishit, “the third floor”, קומה feminine) but השיעור השלישי (ha-shiur ha-shlishi, “the third lesson”, שיעור masculine). A gender clash like הכיתה השלישי is wrong the same way עיר גדול was wrong in lesson 7.

It agrees in definiteness — both words carry ה־. When the noun is definite, the ordinal repeats the article, exactly like an attributive adjective: הספר הראשון (ha-sefer ha-rishon, “the first book”). Marking only one of the two — ספר הראשון or הספר ראשון — is an error. As always, a fused preposition swallows the noun’s article but the ordinal keeps its own: בקומה השלישית (ba-koma ha-shlishit, “on the third floor”).

“First” is special — it comes from ראש, not from “one”. ראשון (rishon) is built on ראש (rosh, “head”), so it means “the head one / the foremost”, and its feminine is ראשונה (rishona), not a ־ית form. Do not reach for the cardinal אחד (echad) to say “first”.

Three to ten echo the cardinals. From “third” up, the ordinal is the cardinal root plus ־י / ־ית: שלוש → שלישי / שלישית, חמש → חמישי / חמישית, עשר → עשירי / עשירית. Learning them is mostly recognising the cardinal you already know inside the ordinal.

Days of the week use bare ordinals — no article. The Hebrew week is numbered from Sunday, and the day-names are just יום (yom, “day”) + a bare ordinal, with no ה־: יום ראשון (yom rishon, Sunday, literally “day one”), יום שני (yom sheni, Monday), יום שלישי (yom shlishi, Tuesday), and so on to יום שישי (yom shishi, Friday); Saturday is שבת (Shabbat), not an ordinal.

Above ten, drop the ordinal. Everyday Hebrew has no common ordinals past “tenth”; for higher ranks it uses the plain cardinal (lesson 26) after ה־: הקומה ה-15 (ha-koma ha-chamesh-esre, “the 15th floor”). And do not confuse an ordinal with a fraction — שליש (shlish) is “a third” and רבע (reva) is “a quarter” (the fractions), different words from the ordinals שלישי / רביעי.

Forms & patterns

The two series, “first” to “tenth” — masculine in ־י, feminine mostly in ־ית:

Two irregularities to flag in that table. “First” — ראשון / ראשונה comes from ראש (head); its feminine ends in ־ה (rishona), not ־ית. “Second” — the feminine is שנייה (shniya) with ־ה, again not ־ית; and the masculine שני (sheni) is spelled exactly like שני (shnei), the bound form of “two” from lesson 12, so the context tells them apart.

Placement — the ordinal sits after the noun and copies its gender and article, like any adjective:

Ordinals also take the plural endings ־ים / ־ות when the noun is plural (they are adjectives): הימים הראשונים (ha-yamim ha-rishonim, “the first days”), השורות הראשונות (ha-shurot ha-rishonot, “the first rows”).

Examples

Common mistakes

• הכיתה השני -> הכיתה השנייה (ha-kita ha-shniya) - כיתה is feminine, so the ordinal must be feminine too; agree it like any adjective.
• הפעם השני -> הפעם השנייה (ha-pa’am ha-shniya) - פעם is feminine; and the feminine of “second” is the irregular שנייה, not a ־ית form.
• הבית הראשונה -> הבית הראשון (ha-bayit ha-rishon) - בית is masculine, so use the masculine ראשון.
• הראשון הבית -> הבית הראשון (ha-bayit ha-rishon) - the ordinal follows its noun; never front it English-style.
• ספר הראשון -> הספר הראשון (ha-sefer ha-rishon) - definiteness agreement: when the noun is definite, both it and the ordinal carry ה־.
• הקומה שלוש -> הקומה השלישית (ha-koma ha-shlishit) - for a ranked position use the ordinal, not the cardinal שלוש.
• הבית אחד (for “the first house”) -> הבית הראשון (ha-bayit ha-rishon) - “first” is ראשון, from ראש; do not borrow the cardinal אחד.

Tips

• Ordinals are just adjectives (lesson 7): noun first, ordinal second, matching gender, and repeating ה־ when the noun is definite. If you can say הבית הגדול, you can say הבית הראשון.
• Read the ordinal inside the cardinal you already know (lesson 12): שלישי from שלוש, חמישי from חמש, עשירי from עשר. Only “first” hides no cardinal — ראשון comes from ראש (head), not from אחד.
• Memorise the two irregulars up front: ראשונה (rishona) for feminine “first” and שנייה (shniya) for feminine “second” — both take ־ה, while the rest take ־ית.
• Masculine שני (sheni, “second”) is spelled the same as שני (shnei, “two of”); the surrounding words tell you which, so read by context.
• Days of the week are bare ordinals with no article: יום ראשון is Sunday (“day one”), and the Israeli week counts up to יום שישי (Friday). Only שבת breaks the count.
• Past “tenth”, switch to the plain cardinal after ה־: הקומה ה-15 (ha-koma ha-chamesh-esre) — see lesson 26 for the higher numbers.
• Keep ordinals apart from fractions: שלישי is “third” in order, but שליש (shlish) is “a third” and רבע (reva) is “a quarter” — different words entirely.
• When the noun is plural, pluralise the ordinal too: הימים הראשונים (m. pl), השורות הראשונות (f. pl) — the same ־ים / ־ות endings as any adjective.