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'Premier', 'deuxième', 'vingt et unième': ordinals, kings and centuries in French

French ordinals are easy to build: take the number and add -ième, so deux becomes deuxième and vingt becomes vingtième. The one real exception is premier, and a handful of words change their spelling slightly along the way, such as cinquième and neuvième.

The part that trips up English speakers is kings, queens and popes. In English you say Louis the Fourteenth, but French uses the plain number: Louis quatorze. The only ordinal in a ruler's name is premier. Centuries go the other way: they always take an ordinal, as in le vingt et unième siècle, and they are usually written with Roman numerals.

Word list
deuxièmeA1 second deux = deuxième premiermA1 first François Ier = François premier reinefA1 queen la reine Élisabeth II = Élisabeth deux roimA1 king le roi Henri IV = Henri quatre secondmA1 second second = second cinquièmeA2 fifth cinq = cinquième dixièmeA2 tenth Louis X = Louis dix huitièmeA2 eighth Henri VIII = Henri huit neuvièmeA2 ninth neuf = neuvième princemA2 prince le prince Rainier III = Rainier trois quatrièmeA2 fourth Henri IV = Henri quatre septièmeA2 seventh le VIIe siècle = le septième siècle sièclemA2 century au XXe siècle = au vingtième siècle sixièmeA2 sixth Charles VI = Charles six troisièmeA2 third Napoléon III = Napoléon trois douzièmeB1 twelfth Louis XII = Louis douze onzièmeB1 eleventh le onzième = le onzième papemB1 Pope le pape Jean-Paul II = Jean-Paul deux centièmeB2 hundredth cent = centième dix-huitièmeB2 eighteenth le XVIIIe siècle = le dix-huitième siècle dix-neuvièmeB2 nineteenth le XIXe siècle = le dix-neuvième siècle dix-septièmeB2 seventeenth le XVIIe siècle = le dix-septième siècle empereurmB2 emperor l'empereur Napoléon III = Napoléon trois impératricefB2 empress l'impératrice Catherine II = Catherine deux millièmeB2 thousandth mille = millième pharaonmB2 pharaoh le pharaon Ramsès II = Ramsès deux quatorzièmeB2 fourteenth Louis XIV = Louis quatorze quinzièmeB2 fifteenth Louis XV = Louis quinze seizièmeB2 sixteenth Louis XVI = Louis seize treizièmeB2 thirteenth Louis XIII = Louis treize trentièmeB2 thirtieth trente = trentième vingt-et-unièmeB2 twenty-first le vingt et unième siècle = le vingt et unième siècle vingtièmeB2 twentieth le XXe siècle = le vingtième siècle chiffre romainmC1 Roman numeral Louis XIV = quatorze
How it works

There are three rules to keep in mind:

Ordinals

Number + -ième. If the number ends in -e, drop it: quatre becomes quatrième and onze becomes onzième. Only un is irregular on its own: the ordinal is premier (feminine première).

Rulers

Use a plain number with no article and no the: Louis XIV is read Louis quatorze. The single exception is number one: François Ier is read François premier.

Centuries

Use an ordinal, normally written in Roman numerals followed by a small e: le XIXe siècle is read le dix-neuvième siècle.

Here is a rule of thumb. Ask yourself whether you are naming a person or counting a period of time. A person gets a plain number, and a century gets -ième.

Nous vivons au XXIe siècle.
(We live in the 21st century.)
Louis XIV (quatorze) a construit Versailles.
(Louis the Fourteenth built Versailles.)
The words

premier is the odd one out among ordinals, and it is also the only ordinal that appears in a ruler's name. deuxième is completely regular. second means the same thing but is pronounced with a hard g sound. People often choose it when there are only two items, as in la Seconde Guerre mondiale.

C'est ma première visite à Paris.
(It's my first visit to Paris.)
J'habite au deuxième étage.
(I live on the second floor.)
Il a fini second sur deux.
(He finished second out of two.)

Two ordinals need a small spelling change. cinquième adds a u after the q, and neuvième turns the f of neuf into a v. onzième drops the final -e like any other number, but it also refuses elision: you say le onzième, not l'onzième.

Mon fils est en cinquième.
(My son is in Year 8 / seventh grade.)
C'est le onzième jour du voyage.
(It's the eleventh day of the trip.)

For compound numbers ending in one, French uses unième, never premier: vingt-et-unième, written vingt et unième in the traditional spelling. The same goes for trente et unième and so on. You will meet this word, together with vingtième and dix-neuvième, constantly with siècle.

Victor Hugo est un écrivain du dix-neuvième siècle.
(Victor Hugo is a nineteenth-century writer.)
Le vingtième siècle a connu deux guerres mondiales.
(The twentieth century saw two world wars.)

With a roi, the chiffre romain after the name is read as a plain number. For example, Louis XIV is Louis quatorze, never Louis quatorzième. The ordinal quatorzième still exists, but you use it for ordinary counting, such as a fourteenth place or a fourteenth birthday.

Le roi Henri IV (quatre) est très populaire en France.
(King Henry the Fourth is very popular in France.)
François Ier (premier) aimait les artistes italiens.
(Francis the First loved Italian artists.)
Elle a fêté son quatorzième anniversaire hier.
(She celebrated her fourteenth birthday yesterday.)
Watch out
  • Never say Louis le quatorzième. Drop both the article and the ordinal: Louis quatorze, Élisabeth deux, Jean-Paul deux.
  • Number one is the only exception, and you can spot it in writing. The abbreviation is Ier for a man and Ire for a woman, and it is read premier or première. This also applies to the first century: le Ier siècle is read le premier siècle.
  • Century abbreviations use a raised e: XXe, XXIe. Avoid English-style XXth, and avoid ème in careful writing.
  • Dates follow the same logic as rulers. You say le premier mai, but le deux mai and le vingt et un mai, never le deuxième mai.
Summary

Build ordinals with -ième. The exceptions to remember are premier, cinquième and neuvième, and compounds such as vingt et unième use unième. When you name a king, a queen or a pope, read the Roman numeral as a plain number (Louis quatorze), except for one, which is premier. When you name a century, always use the ordinal (le XXIe siècle, read vingt et unième).