1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Italian Language

Special Use of Certain Italian Numbers

Expressing Centuries and Days of the Month in Italian

By Michael San Filippo, About.com Guide

Generally, especially in connection with literature, art, and history, Italian uses the following forms to refer to centuries from the thirteenth on:

il Duecento (il secolo tredicesimo)
13th century

il Trecento (il secolo quattordicesimo)
14th century

il Quattrocento (il secolo quindicesimo)
15th century

il Cinquecento (il secolo sedicesimo)
16th century

il Seicento (il secolo diciassettesimo)
17th century

il Settecento (il secolo diciottesimo)
18th century

l'Ottocento (il secolo diciannovesimo)
19th century

il Novecento (il secolo ventesimo)
20th century

Note that these substitute forms are usually capitalized:

la scultura fiorentina del Quattrocento
(del secolo quindicesimo)
Florentine sculpture of the fifteenth century

la pittura veneziana del Settecento
(del secolo diciottesimo)
Venetian painting of the eighteenth century

Expressing Days of the Month in Italian
Days of the month are expressed with ordinal numbers (November first, November second). In Italian, only the first day of the month is indicated by the ordinal number, preceded by the definite article: il primo. All other dates are expressed by cardinal numbers, preceded by the definite article.

Oggi è il primo novembre. (Today is November first.)
Domani sarà il due novembre. (Tomorrow will be November second.)

Explore Italian Language

About.com Special Features

A Smarter Future

Tips that will help finance your education, excel in the classroom, and advance your career. More >

How to Ace the GRE

Being well prepared is the first step; here are more essential suggestions. More >

  1. Home
  2. Education
  3. Italian Language

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.