Ordinals with 'namba'

01

The Pattern

• namba tri - third
• namba foa - fourth
• namba faiv - fifth
• namba sikis - sixth

• Namba foa em yangpela.

  The fourth one is young.

• Namba sikis em pikinini meri.

  The sixth is a girl.

• Namba faiv pikinini bilong mi em pikinini man.

  My fifth child is a boy.

• Dispela em namba tri taim nau mi tokim yu gen.

  This is the third time I've told you now.

The number itself never changes. Compare English "five" against "fifth", "twelve" against "twelfth", "twenty" against "twentieth" - none of that happens here.

02

'First' and 'Second'

The first two are written as one word.

• Em nambawan de bilong yu long wok?

  Is it your first day at work?

• Nogat, tude em nambatu de bilong mi long wok.

  No, today is my second day at work.

Only one and two join up like this; from three onwards the two words stay separate. You will also see namba wan and namba tu spaced out - both spellings are common and mean the same thing.

03

'nambawan' Also Means 'Best'

Because being number one is being the best, nambawan doubles as a superlative. Context separates the two senses easily enough.

• Sushi em nambawan kaikai tru bilong mi.

  Sushi is my very favourite food.

• Yu nambawan meri long luksave!

  You're the best woman at noticing things!

04

Dates

A date is the ordinal, then de "day", then bilong and the month.

• Tude em nambawan de bilong mun Mei.

  Today is the first of May.

• Tude em Fraide, namba tetin de bilong mun Mei.

  Today is Friday, the thirteenth of May.

Read literally, that is "number-thirteen day of month May" - the same information English packs into "the thirteenth of May", but with every piece named.

05

'namba' as an Ordinary Noun

It has not stopped being the noun "number".

• Rum namba bilong mi em fotin.

  My room number is fourteen.

• Yu lukim dispela namba long tamblo?

  Do you see this number below?

• Namba bilong ol i winim wan handet.

  Their number exceeds one hundred.