Is it 15st or 15th?

Are you in the middle of writing an essay, email, or social media caption and you can’t decide whether to use “15st” or “15th”?
It’s a bit frustrating when you’re not sure which one is correct, isn’t it?
Don’t worry! English grammar can be tricky at times. But this blog post is here to talk about the answer and you can learn more about ordinal numbers.
So, let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Is it 15st or 15th?
Grammatically, the correct ordinal number for 15 is “15th”, not “15st”.
Here are a few examples of its correct usage:
- “She is the 15th person in line.”
- “The meeting is on the 15th of the month.”
- “He finished the race in 15th place.”
It is important to note that “15st” is not a commonly used phrase and should not be used in formal writing. It does not have a widely accepted meaning and its usage is not standard.
What are ordinal numbers in English?
Ordinal numbers are words that tell us the position of something in a list or sequence. For example, if there are five people in a line, and you are the third person, you are “3rd” in line. Or if today is the 15th day of the month, you can say it is the “15th.”
To make ordinal numbers, we usually add a special ending to the base number. The endings are “-st,” “-nd,” “-rd,” and “-th.” For example:
- 1st (first)
- 2nd (second)
- 3rd (third)
- 4th (fourth)
- 5th (fifth)
There are a few exceptions to this rule. For example, instead of “4st,” we say “4th.” Instead of “8st,” we say “8th.”
Ordinal numbers from 1st to 20th
Here are the ordinal numbers from 1st to 20th, along with their pronunciations:
1st – first [fərst]
2nd – second [sekənd]
3rd – third [θərd]
4th – fourth [fɔːrθ]
5th – fifth [fɪfθ]
6th – sixth [sɪksθ]
7th – seventh [sevnθ]
8th – eighth [eɪtθ]
9th – ninth [naɪnθ]
10th – tenth [tenθ]
11th – eleventh [ɪ’levnθ]
12th – twelfth [twelfθ]
13th – thirteenth [θə’tiːnθ]
14th – fourteenth [fɔː’tiːnθ]
15th – fifteenth [fɪf’tiːnθ]
16th – sixteenth [sɪks’tiːnθ]
17th – seventeenth [sevn’tiːnθ]
18th – eighteenth [eɪt’tiːnθ]
19th – nineteenth [naɪn’tiːnθ]
20th – twentieth [twentiθ]
Final thought
It’s worth noting that proper usage of ordinal numbers is an important aspect of writing and communication. Whether you’re writing an essay, email, or social media post, being clear and precise with your language is always a good idea.
Thank you for reading! I hope this post has helped you learn that “15st” is not correct and “15th” is the correct one.