Ordinal and Cardinal Numbers

Ordinal numbers describe position or order in a sequence, such as first, second, third, indicating rank or placement. Cardinal numbers represent quantity or count, like one, two, three, indicating how many items there are. For example, in a race, "first" is an ordinal number showing position, while the number of runners, say 10, is a cardinal number indicating total count. Both types help us understand different aspects of numbers: one's place in order, and the total number of items.