Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[dhkim]

Hello~

How would you ask to get the following answer (assuming 16th is the part I want to know) :

Abraham Lincoln was the **16th** President of the United States of america.

Thanks,
Don

[Bob S.]

[CP]

This is not an easy one, and I think someone posed this question before. You can't say it in any simple way.

You might say, What ordinal number was Lincoln as president?

The cardinal numbers are 1, 2, 3, . . . . The ordinal numbers are 1st, 2nd, 3rd, . . . . [pronounced first, second, third, . . . .]

You might also say, If Washington was the first president and Adams the second, what number was Lincoln? I'd probably word it that way to someone whose English skills might not be great enough to understand what I meant by asking about the ordinal number.

Good luck.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[CP]

Looks like Bob S. was answering while I was still writing mine. His way works well, too.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Bob S.]

CP,
Though I like how your version simplifies my long round-about way of posing the question and making it into the more efficient:
"If Washington was the first president and Adams the second, what number was Lincoln?"
That pretty much does it.