Definitive adjectives are divided into three classes: I. articles, II. pronominal adjectives, and III. numeral adjectives.
III. Numeral Adjectives
From A New English Grammar for Schools, by Thomas Harvey:
1. Numeral adjectives are those which express number and order.
four days; two hundred twenty-nine camels;
fourth child; fourfold increase
fourth child; fourfold increase
2. Numeral adjectives are divided into three classes.
a. Cardinal
Cardinal numerals denote simply the number of objects.
thirteen candles; fifty cats; a thousand wishes;
three million six hundred ninety-nine books
three million six hundred ninety-nine books
b. Ordinal
Ordinal numerals mark the position of an object in a series.
thirteenth candle, fiftieth cat;
the thousandth wish; the sixty-first book
the thousandth wish; the sixty-first book
c. Multiplicative
Multiplicative numerals denote how many times as many or as much.
twofold reason; fourfold measure
3. Some numeral adjectives limit singular nouns and may be parsed as single words.
When such, many, only, but, and not are followed by the indefinite article a or an, the phrases such a, many a, etc., limit singular nouns.
many a time; he is but a
man;
not a drum was heard
not a drum was heard
4. Some numeral adjectives are reciprocally related.
Each other and one another are sometimes called reciprocals, because they are reciprocally related.
a. When such, many, only, but, and not are followed by the indefinite article a or an, the phrases such a, many a, etc., limit singular nouns.
They mutually assist each other.
They help one another.
b. Use “each” in referring to two individuals, and “one” in referring to more than two.
5. Numeral adjectives should agree with the nouns they limit.
When such, many, only, but, and not are followed by the indefinite article a or an, the phrases such a, many a, etc., limit singular nouns.
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