3th or 3rd, which is right?

Compare it Versus > Grammar > 3th vs 3rd? Which is the correct way to spell “third”?
Published on November 27, 2022, last updated February 2023
By Mary S., registered secondary school English teacher

Meaning of 3rd or third

In linguistics, 3rd or third is a major ordinal numeral used to signify the order or position of something.

In this case, 3rd, it means position 3 or third place. This means there are 2 individuals ahead in the case of a race. Or, it may be the third time something is occurring.

Let us use 3rd in a sentence:

This is the third time you have told me this joke, Emily.

This means that Emily tends to repeat her jokes, ie she has already told the joke 2 times before the “third” time.

Examples of ordinal numerals are first (1st), second (2nd), seventh (7th), twelfth (12th) and so on.

Other examples of third in a sentence:

• I was third (3rd) in my science fair competition
• Brazil was 3rd in the FIFA Football World Cup
• You are the 3rd person to ask me this today

Note that none of the above are written as 3th as it is incorrect.

How do I write third correctly – 3th or 3rd?

Third is an important ordinal number. Let’s learn to spell it the right way.

The correct spelling of this word is 3rd. 

Is 3th a word?

3th is incorrect. If someone writes third using “3th”, they will still mean the same but it is incorrect to spell it this way.

Remember to use the ending “rd” when writing third.

Sound it out – 3rd and 3th

Let’s speak the two versions of third out loud to find out which is the correct way. This is always a good way to remember.

3rd – kind of sounds like third, no? I think so.

3th – three-th, thirth? This one sounds obviously incorrect.

Popularity of the search terms online

A search for the exact term “3rd” on Google in February of 2023 yielded over a 1.5 billion results.

Conversely, a search for the exact term “3th” on the same day in 2023 only resulted in only about 10 million results.

What does this comparison tell us?

This means that 3rd (and not 3th) is more popular and as is often (but remember, not always), the case, the right way to spell the third.

Do you make errors when you spell 3rd or ordinal numerals in general?

Or do you have any tips to remember how to remember to write it correctly? Let us know!

Also let us know if there is any other confusing English grammar words or ordinals you would like us to include.

Leave your opinions for “3rd vs 3th” in the comments section below.

References

1. 1. Wikipedia Ordinal Numbers web page, accessed in November 2022, link to ordinal numeral page
   2. Cambridge Dictionary online web page, accessed in February 2023
   3. Google search engine for popularity of search terms, search completed in February 2023