[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by tdol

Given that Cardinal and Ordinal numbers are labels, I'd say the distinction between them could be viewed as grammatical. Would the use of articles with Ordinal numbers be enough to say they have rules, Cas?

:D labels (i.e. nominal numbers?) are different from cardinal numbers and ordinal numbers:

Originally Posted by fact monster

Cardinal numbers (i.e. one, 7, four, three, etc) tells "how many." Cardinal numbers are also known as "counting numbers," because they show quantity. Here are some examples using cardinal numbers: 8 puppies, 14 friends.

Ordinal numbers (i.e. first, 2nd, third, 4th, etc) tell the order of things in a set. Ordinal numbers do not show quantity. They only show rank or position. Here are some examples using ordinal numbers: 3rd fastest, 6th in line.

Nominal numbers names something—a telephone number, a player on a team. Nominal numbers do not show quantity or rank. They are used only to identify something. Here are some examples using nominal numbers: jersey number 4, zip code 02116.

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8) Here's some distributional evidence:

Originally Posted by EVAN JENKINS

Cardinal Rules

A Little League team's players, the article said, "picked up their third World Series victory in as many days." There's an extremely common error there. As many as what? As many as third? No, obviously. "Third" is an ordinal number, denoting the position of something in a sequence. "As many as" needs to refer to a quantity, not a position, and that requires a cardinal number — here, "three." If the sentence had said "picked up three World Series victories in as many days," that would have been fine. (But for all that, "as many as" smacks a little of elegant variation. What's wrong with "their third World Series victory in three days"?)

— CJR, Nov./Dec. 1998

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