ITALIAN NUMERAL ADJECTIVES

Italian numeral adjectives give us information about the quantity of the noun they refer to.

They include all numbers, whether they are indicated in letters, Arabic numerals or Roman characters.

Unlike indefinite adjectives, the quantity is therefore well defined and verifiable in a concrete way.

CARDINAL ADJECTIVES

Cardinal numerals indicate the numerical quantity of the noun they refer to.

To know them, you need to know the numbers in Italian: uno, due, tre… They are invariable (except for uno that also has the feminine una).

It is better to write them in letters unless they are very large numbers, but you should leave them in numbers when it comes to dates: Play Sara ha compiuto ieri tre anni .

As you can see, the cardinal adjective three is written without an accent, but be careful, its compounds must be accented (ventitré, trentatré…).

REMEMBER THAT:

The numeral uno follows the same rules as the indefinite article regarding elision and truncation: un armadio; un’idea.

Compounds with uno (ventiuno, trentuno, etc.) can be truncated, preferably when the noun that follows is masculine: ventun anni, ma ventuno amiche;

Compounds that end in –tre must be written with an accent: ventitré, trentatré;

Numbers composed of more than one element are written together: ventiquattro, settantadue, etc.; numbers composed of milione and miliardi are written separately: un milione, due milioni, tre miliardi;

The numerals milione and miliardi are nouns, therefore they have the plural (milioni and miliardi) and, when they are followed by a determination, they require the preposition di: cinque milioni di euro, tre miliardi di sterline;

Compounds that begin with cento and mille can be written separately, inserting the conjunction e in the middle: centodue or cento e due, milleuno or mille e uno.

When there are compounds that end in uno (centouno, trecentouno, duemilauno) you have to pay attention to the agreement with the noun that follows: centouno pagine, ma cento e una pagina.

ORDINAL ADJECTIVES

Ordinal numerals indicate the order, the place that a thing or person occupies in a series, a list.

Unlike cardinals, they are all variable in gender and number, and therefore they agree with the noun like qualifying adjectives: primo, prima, primi, prime and, when we have to write an ordinal number with a number, we use the digit of the cardinal number + the circle symbol (°).

The first 10 must be learned by heart, because there is no rule for forming them.

Here are the ordinal numbers from 1 to 10 (irregular):

Let’s see a few examples:

From 11 onwards, however, there is a rule to form them:

Add the suffix –ESIMO to the root of the corresponding cardinal number (regular).

To find the root, simply remove the last letter of the number.

12° = DODIC + ESIMO = DODICESIMO

37° = TRENTASETT + ESIMO = TRENTASETTESIMO 

The exception is the numbers with the 6, which keep the last letter (otherwise there would be a clash between the two Es)!

26° = VENTISEI + ESIMO = VENTISEIESIMO

ROMAN NUMBERS

Sometimes ordinal numbers can be represented by Roman numerals.

This happens especially to express centuries, pontiffs or sovereigns.

Here is a summary table of Roman numerals till 10:

Examples:

And last thing: ultimo, penultimo, terzultimo… are also considered ordinal numbers

OTHER NUMERALS

Multiplicative numerals

Multiplicative numerals indicate how many times a quantity is greater than another:

After “quintuplo” multiplicatives are generally no longer used, but it is preferable to use directly “sei volte”, “sette volte”, “otto volte”…

Multiplicatives are also variable by gender and by number.

For example:

Numerical quantity

Numerals also include nouns or expressions that indicate a numerical quantity:

・ a uno a uno, due per volta, tre alla volta (one by one, two at a time, three at a time)… 

・ un terzo, due quinti (a third, two fifths)…

・ paio, coppia, decina, dozzina, centinaio, migliaio, biennio, triennio, ventennio, bimestre, trimestre (pair, couple, ten, dozen, hundred, thousand, two-year period, three-year period, twenty-year period, two-month period, quarter)…

Collective numerals

Collective numerals indicate a numerical set.

There is no complete series, the most used are paio (the plural is feminine: paia) and coppia = due unità), decina (=dieci unità), dozzina (=dodici unità).

Those that indicate multiples of ten (ventina, trentina, quarantina, etc.), centinaio, migliaio  (the plural is feminine: centinaia; migliaia).

From dozzina onwards they have an approximate value: una ventina d’anni (=about twenty years), una quarantina di persone (=about forty people).

Among the collective numbers there are also those that indicate:

–   a period of two or more months: bimestre, trimestre, quadrimestre;

–   a period of two or more years: biennio, triennio, quadriennio, decennio, ventennio;

–   a musical composition or a group of people who work together: uetto (o duo), terzetto (o trio), quartetto, quintetto.

ATTENTION!

Ambedue and entrambi mean “both” (tutt’e due), but the first is invariable, the second has the feminine entrambe: ambedue gli occhi, ambedue le gambe; entrambi gli occhi; entrambe le gambe.

Distributive numerals

Distributive numerals indicate the way in which people or things are distributed: a uno a uno (one by one), a due a due, tre alla volta, per quattro.

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