ICU Selectordinal for Rankings and Ordinal Numbers

Ordinal Numbers with ICU Selectordinal

The selectordinal argument type handles ordinal number formatting -- numbers that indicate position or rank (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc.). Like plural, it uses CLDR rules, but for ordinal rather than cardinal numbers.

Basic English Ordinals

You finished in {place, selectordinal,
    one {#st}
    two {#nd}
    few {#rd}
    other {#th}
} place!

Results:

• place=1 -> "You finished in 1st place!"
• place=2 -> "You finished in 2nd place!"
• place=3 -> "You finished in 3rd place!"
• place=4 -> "You finished in 4th place!"
• place=11 -> "You finished in 11th place!" (not 11st)
• place=21 -> "You finished in 21st place!"
• place=22 -> "You finished in 22nd place!"

English Ordinal Rules

English ordinal categories are determined by the last digits:

Category	Numbers	Suffix
one	1, 21, 31, 41, ... (but NOT 11)	-st
two	2, 22, 32, 42, ... (but NOT 12)	-nd
few	3, 23, 33, 43, ... (but NOT 13)	-rd
other	0, 4-20, 24-30, 11, 12, 13, ...	-th

Ordinals in Other Languages

Many languages have simpler ordinal systems:

French -- uses only one and other:

{place, selectordinal,
    one {#er}
    other {#e}
}

• 1er, 2e, 3e, 4e, ...

Italian -- all ordinals are the same:

{place, selectordinal,
    other {#°}
}

Swedish -- uses one and other:

{place, selectordinal,
    one {#:a}
    other {#:e}
}

Combined with Context

{name} finished {place, selectordinal,
    one {#st}
    two {#nd}
    few {#rd}
    other {#th}
} in the {eventName}.

Exact Match Override

Like plural, you can use =N for exact values:

{place, selectordinal,
    =1 {gold medal}
    =2 {silver medal}
    =3 {bronze medal}
    other {#th place}
}

When to Use Selectordinal vs Manual Strings

Use selectordinal when you need locale-aware ordinal formatting. If your ordinals are always in a fixed context (like "Chapter 1", "Chapter 2"), you might not need selectordinal since many languages do not use ordinal suffixes in that context. Consult your translators to decide.