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Ordinal numbers 2

Àireamhan òrdail 2

These ordinal numbers are adjectives which we use before a noun, còigeamh latha , dàrna àite , etc. If we use the definite article with the noun, we treat the ordinal number as a noun of the same gender as the noun following it. The article will follow the rules for masculine or feminine nouns in each case:

with masculine nouns	with feminine nouns
an còigeamh latha	a' chòigeamh oidhche
air a' chòigeamh latha	air a' chòigeamh oidhche
obair a'chòigeamh latha	obair na còigeamh oidhche
an siathamh taigh	an t–siathamh oifis
anns an t–siathamh taigh	anns an t–siathamh oifis
coltas an t–siathamh taigh e	coltas na siathamh oifis e
an seachdamh taigh	an t–seachdamh oifis
anns an t–seachdamh taigh	anns an t–seachdamh oifis
coltas an t–seachdamh taighe	coltas na seachdamh oifise
an t–ochdamh taigh	an ochdamh oifis
anns an ochdamh taigh	anns an ochdamh oifis
coltas an ochdamh taighe	coltas na h–ochdamh oifise

The rules for each case are summarised below for reference. Remember, it is the first letter of the ordinal number and the gender of the noun it precedes we are using here.

MASCULINE \| FIREANN
NOMINATIVE		DATIVE		GENITIVE
FIRST LETTER	ARTICLE	FIRST LETTER	ARTICLE	FIRST LETTER	ARTICLE
b, f, m, p	am	b, c, g, m, p	a' _h	b, c, g, m, p	a' _h
vowels (a,e,i,o,u)	an t–	f	an _h	f	an _h
		sl, sn, sr, s+vowel	an t–	sl, sn, sr, s+vowel	an t–
all other letters	an	all other letters	an	all other letters	an
					+ Noun is Slenderised

FEMININE \| BOIREANN
NOMINATIVE		DATIVE		GENITIVE
FIRST LETTER	ARTICLE	FIRST LETTER	ARTICLE	FIRST LETTER	ARTICLE
b, c, g, m, p	a' _h	b, c, g, m, p	a' _h	Consonant	na
f	an _h	f	an _h
sl, sn, sr, s+vowel	an t–	sl, sn, sr, s+vowel	an t–
all other letters	an	all other letters	an	vowels (a,e,i,o,u)	na h–
			+ Noun is Slenderised

The exception to this rule is a' chiad . This used to follow the same pattern, but these days it is used as a' chiad with both masculine and feminine nouns. However you may still see na ciad with feminine nouns in the genitive (possessive) case: oileanach na ciad bhliadhna.

Summaries of the rules for articles with each case along with examples are given below for reference.

MASCULINE | FIREANN

		NOMINATIVE (NOMINAL)		DATIVE (PREPOSITIONAL)		GENITIVE (POSSESSIVE)
FIRST LETTER	NOUN	ARTICLE	with NOMINATIVE	ARTICLE	with DATIVE	ARTICLE	with GENITIVE
b	bonnach	am	am bonnach	a' _h	anns a' bhonnach	a' _h	blas a' bhonnaich
m	ministear	am	am ministear	a' _h	aig a' mhinistear	a' _h	guth a' mhinisteir
p	peitean	am	am peitean	a' _h	air a' pheitean	a' _h	putan a' pheitein
f	fleasgach	am	am fleasgach	an _h	aig an fhleasgach	a' _h	peitean an fhleasgaich
c	cluaran	an	an cluaran	a' _h	air a' chluaran	a' _h	dath a' chluarain
g	gealladh	an	an gealladh	a' _h	leis a' ghealladh	a' _h	buaidh a' gheallaidh
sl	sluagh	an	an sluagh	an t–	anns an t–sluagh	an t–	meud an t–sluaigh
sn	snasadh	an	an snasadh	an t–	anns an t–snasadh	an t–	buaidh an t–snasaidh
sr	sruthan	an	an sruthan	an t–	anns an t–sruthan	an t–	blas an t–sruthain
s+vowel	seòmar	an	an seòmar	an t–	anns an t–seòmar	an t–	doras an t–seòmair
vowels (a,e,i,o,u)	athair	an t–	an t–athair	an	air an athair	an	mac an athar
all other letters	doras	an	an doras	an	aig an doras	an	deoch an dorais

FEMININE | BOIREANN

		NOMINATIVE (NOMINAL)		DATIVE (PREPOSITIONAL)		GENITIVE (POSSESSIVE)
FIRST LETTER	NOUN	ARTICLE	with NOMINATIVE	ARTICLE	with DATIVE	ARTICLE	with GENITIVE
b	banais	a' _h	a'bhanais	a' _h	air a' bhanais	na	bean na bainnse
c	cairt	a' _h	a' chairt	a' _h	air a' chairt	na	beulaibh na cairte
g	glainne	a' _h	a' ghlainne	a' _h	anns a' ghlainne	na	bonn na glainne
m	màthair	a' _h	a' mhàthair	a' _h	aig a' mhàthair	na	nighean na màthar
p	pìob	a' _h	a' phìob	a' _h	aig a' phìob	na	ceòl na pìoba
f	fèis	an _h	an fhèis	an _h	aig an fhèis	na	latha na fèise
sl	slàinte	an t–	an t–slàinte	an t–	an t–slàinte	na	math na slàinte
sn	snàthad	an t–	an t–snàthad	an t–	leis an t–snàthad	na	crò na snàthaid
sr	sreang	an t–	an t–sreang	an t–	leis an t–sreang	na	dath na sreanga /sreinge
s+vowel	seirm	an t–	an t– seirm	an t–	leis an t–seirm	na	binneas na seirme
vowels (a,e,i,o,u)	oidhche	an	an oidhche	an	air an oidhche	na h–	beul na h–oidhche
all other letters	deise	an	an deise	an	anns an deise	na	snas na deise

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