For all cardinal numbers except the numbers 1, 2, 3 or 4, you can form the ordinal number by simply adding the ending -i to the cardinal number (-ti to numbers that end with a vowel like (hundred), (two hundred) etc.). Examples:

(five) → (fifth)
(twelve) → (twelfth)
(three hundred) → (three hundredth)

The ordinal numbers in Croatian behave just like adjectives which means:

  • they can be either masculine, feminine or neuter by gender
  • they have a singular or plural form
  • they have different endings, depending on case of the noun they refer to.
CARDINAL NUMBER
(GLAVNI BROJ)
ORDINAL NUMBER
(REDNI BROJ)
masculine
(muški rod)		feminine
(ženski rod)		neuter
(srednji rod)
jedan (1) prvi (e.g stan) prva (e.g. kuća) prvo (e.g. pivo)
dva (2) drugi druga drugo
tri (3) treći treća treće
četiri (4) četvrti četvrta četvrto
pet (5) peti peta peto
šest (6) šesti šesta šesto
sedam (7) sedmi sedma sedmo
osam (8) osmi osma osmo
devet (9) deveti deveta deveto
deset (10) deseti deseta deseto
jedanaest (11) jedanaesti jedanaesta jedanaesto
dvanaest (12) dvanaesti dvanaesta dvanaesto
sedamnaest (17) sedamnaesti sedamnaesta sedamnaesto
dvadeset (20) dvadeseti dvadeseta dvadeseto
četrdeset osam (48) četrdeset osmi četrdeset osma četrdeset osmo
sto dvadeset dva (122) sto dvadeset drugi sto dvadeset druga sto dvadeset drugo
sto (100) stoti stota stoto
petsto (500) petstoti petstota petstoto

Exercise: How would you say the following?

Neil Armstrong was the first man on the Moon.
→ Neil Armstrong je bio Answer prvi čovjek na Mjesecu.

Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize.
→ Marie Curie je bila Answer prva žena koja je osvojila Nobelovu nagradu.

Not that I’m counting, but this is your third beer today!
→ Nije da brojim, ali ovo ti je već Answer treće pivo danas!

Josip is his fifth child, but the first son.
→ Josip je njegovo Answer prvo dijete, ali prvi sin.

I think we’re the first people who did that!
→ Mislim da smo mi Answer prvi ljudi koji su to napravili!

This is your fourth mistake today.
→ Ovo ti je Answer četvrta pogreška danas.

This is the hundredth time I’m telling you the same thing!
→ Ovo je Answer stoti put da ti govorim istu stvar!

Ivo was my first love.
→ Ivo je bio moja Answer prva ljubav. (ljubav = feminine!)

Sara and Mara are the first women in our company.
→ Sara i Mara su Answer prve žene u našoj firmi.