The number 8 can be used in three ways: to tell "how many," to tell "where" in a ranking, and to name someone or something. The girl with the number 8 on her baseball uniform, who is 8th in the batting order, playing on a team that scores 8 runs, is using the same number in each of these ways. When she is 8th in the batting order, she is using the number as an ordinal number. An ordinal number is one which is used to indicate where in an ordered list someone or something occurs. A number used to tell how many is a "cardinal number." A number which is used to name something is neither a cardinal nor an ordinal number.

The ordinal name of a number differs somewhat from the cardinal name. In most instances the cardinal name can be converted into the ordinal name by...