Beware not to mix up fractions (to describe a part of a whole: half, third, fourth...) and ordinal numbers (to describe an order/rank: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, ...).
For ordinal numbers, see Forming ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 10th...).
Look at these examples of fractions:
To express fractions in French, you usually use both cardinal (un/deux/trois...) and ordinal numbers (premier/cinquième...) the same way as in English (one fifth).
Note also that just like in English, the second number is plural if the first is.
ATTENTION:
Here are the irregular fractional numbers:
Examples and resources
Q&A
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
22 December 2016
1 reply
Joakim asked : why one says "tiers monde" rather than "troisième monde" ?
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
22/12/16
Bonjour Joakim !
The expression "le Tiers Monde" to say "the Third World" is fixed as it is in English: this is the only way to say this in French.
"Le Troisième Monde" would feel like there are more than one world, i.e. one planet, when here it's more of a division of the world into three "parts", hence the use of the fraction here.
À bientôt !
The expression "le Tiers Monde" to say "the Third World" is fixed as it is in English: this is the only way to say this in French.
"Le Troisième Monde" would feel like there are more than one world, i.e. one planet, when here it's more of a division of the world into three "parts", hence the use of the fraction here.
À bientôt !
William
Kwiziq community member
9 February 2018
3 replies
Trois sixièmes ou un demi
I appreciate that exercise is showing how to write fractions. However, do they actually say "trois sixièmes" instead of "un demi" in everyday life?
Gruff
Kwiziq language super star
14 April 2018
14/04/18
Bonnie
Kwiziq community member
4 July 2018
4/07/18
Cécile
Kwiziq language super star
1 September 2018
1/09/18
Hi William,
I cannot think of a situation in every day life when you would use 'trois sixièmes' except in a Maths lesson...