Collins Cobuild English Grammar (56 page)

The ordinal numbers are listed in the Reference Section.

as modifiers

2.233
  Ordinals are often used in front of nouns. They are not usually used after linking verbs like
be
. They are usually preceded by a determiner.

…
the first
day of autumn.
He took the lift to
the sixteenth
floor.
…on
her twenty-first
birthday.
…
his father’s second
marriage.

In some idiomatic phrases ordinals are used without determiners.

The picture seems
at first glance
chaotic.
I might.
On second thoughts
, no.
First children
usually get a lot of attention.

written forms

2.234
  Ordinals can be written in abbreviated form, for example in dates or headings or in very informal writing. You write the last two letters of the ordinal after the number expressed in figures. For example,
first
can be written as
1st
,
twenty-second
as
22nd
,
hundred and third
as
103rd
, and
fourteenth
as
14th
.

…on August
2nd
.
…the
1st
Division of the Sovereign’s Escort.
…the
11th
Cavalry.

ordinals with
of

2.235
  You can specify which group the thing referred to by an ordinal belongs to by using the preposition
of
after the ordinal.

It is
the third of
a series of eight programmes.
Tony was
the second of
four sons.

When ordinals are used like this, they usually refer to one person or thing. However, when they are used with a
to
-infinitive, or another phrase or clause after them, they can refer to one person or thing or to more than one.
First
is used like this more than the other ordinals.

I was
the first to recover
.
They had to be
the first to go
.
The proposals –
the first for 22 years
– amount to a new charter for the mentally ill.
The withdrawals were
the first that the army agreed to
.

as pronouns

2.236
  You can use an ordinal to refer to a member of a group that you have already mentioned or to something of the kind already mentioned, and you can omit the noun that identifies the thing.

In August 1932 two of the group’s members were expelled from the party and
a third
was suspended.
The third child tries to outdo
the first and second
.
A second pheasant flew up. Then
a third
and
a fourth
.

2.237
  The adjectives
next
and
last
can be used, like ordinals, by themselves when the context makes the meaning clear.

You missed one meal.
The next
is on the table in half an hour.
Smithy removed
the last
of the screws.

ordinals used as adverbs

2.238
  The ordinal
first
is also used as an adverb to show that something is done before other things. Other ordinals are also sometimes used to show the order in which things are done, especially in informal English. People also use ordinals as adverbs when they are giving a list of points, reasons, or items. This is explained fully in paragraph
10.54
.

other uses of ordinals

2.239
  The use of ordinals in expressing fractions is explained in paragraphs
2.241
and
2.243
. The use of ordinals to express dates, as in
the seventeenth of June
, is explained in paragraph
4.88
.

Ordinal numbers can be used in front of cardinal numbers. This is explained in paragraphs
2.219
to
2.220
.

Talking about an exact part of something: fractions

2.240
  When you want to show how small or large a part of something is compared to the whole of it, you use a
fraction
, such as
a third
, followed by
of
and a noun referring to the whole thing. Fractions can also be written in figures (see paragraph
2.248
).

singular fractions

2.241
  When you express a fraction in words, the way you do so depends on whether the fraction is singular or plural. If it is singular, you write or say an
ordinal number
or the special fraction terms
half
or
quarter
, with either the number
one
or a determiner such as
a
in front of them. The fraction is linked to a noun by
of
.

This state produces
a third
of the nation’s oil.
…
a quarter
of an inch.
You can take
a fifth
of your money out on demand.
A tenth of
our budget goes on fuel.
Forests cover
one third
of the country.
…
one thousandth
of a degree.
…
one quarter
of the total population.

An adjective can also be placed after the determiner and before the fraction.

…
the first half
of the twentieth century.
I read
the first half
of the book.
…
the southern half
of England.
…in
the first quarter
of 2004.

USAGE NOTE

2.242
  If you are using
half
in front of a pronoun, you still use
of
after the
half
.

Nearly
half of it
comes from the Middle East.
More than
half of them
have gone home.
Half of us
have lost our jobs.

Note that when the fraction
a half
is used with
of
, you usually write or say it as
half
without a determiner.
A half
and
one half
are rarely used.

They lost
half of
their pay.
Half of
the people went to private schools.
I had crossed more than
half of
America.

plural fractions

2.243
  If the fraction is plural, you put a
cardinal number
in front of a plural form of the
ordinal number
or special fraction word
quarter
.

…the poorer
two thirds
of the world.
The journey is going to take
three quarters
of an hour.
…
four fifths
of the money.
Nine tenths
of them live on the land.
…
3 millionths
of a centimetre.

When
half
is used with whole numbers or amounts, it is used with the determiner
a
.

…
one and a half acres
of land.
…
four and a half
centuries.

agreement with verb

2.244
  When you talk about fractions of a single thing, you use a singular form of a verb afterwards.

Half of our work
is
to design programmes.
Two thirds of the planet’s surface
is
covered with water.
Two fifths of the forest
was
removed.

However, when you talk about fractions of a number of things, you use a plural form of a verb afterwards.

Two thirds of Chad’s exports
were
cotton.
A quarter of the students
were
seen individually.
More than half of these photographs
are
of her.

fractions as pronouns

2.245
  When it is clear to your listener or reader who or what you are referring to, either because of the context or because you and your listener or reader know what is meant, you can use fractions as pronouns without the
of
and noun after them.

Of the people who work here,
half
are French and
half
are English.
Two thirds
were sterilized.
One sixth
are disappointed with the service.

numbers followed by fractions

2.246
  Besides their use as quantity expressions linked by
of
to a noun phrase, fractions can also be used after a whole number or amount plus
and
, with a noun placed after the fraction. The noun must be plural even if the number is
one
.

You’ve got to sit there for
one and a half hours
.
…
five and a quarter days
.
…more than
four and a half
centuries ago

If you are using
a
instead of
one
, the
and
and the fraction come after the noun.

…
a mile and a half
below the surface.
…
a mile and a quarter
of motorway.

half
as predeterminer

2.247
  Besides being used with
of
as a quantity expression,
half
is also used as a
predeterminer
(see paragraph
1.251
), directly in front of a determiner.

I met
half
the girls at the conference.
The farmers sold off
half
their land.
…
half
a pound of coffee.
…
half
a bottle of milk.