तीसरा (tiisraa)

adjective/pronoun The ordinal number 'third'; it works as an inflecting adjective agreeing with the noun it modifies, and also stands alone as 'the third one'.

Sense 1 : third (ordinal number)

adjective

Frequency: high

Cultural Note: Ordinals like तीसरा (tiisraa) show up constantly in daily life -- floors of a building, kids' class rankings in school, or someone's turn in a queue ('तीसरा नंबर' tiisraa nambar, 'third in line'). It pairs naturally with पहला (pahlaa, 'first') and दूसरा (doosraa, 'second') as the only three ordinals that are irregular in form; from चौथा (chauthaa, 'fourth') onward the pattern becomes more predictable.

Common Mistakes: 1) Learners often forget that तीसरा (tiisraa) must agree in gender and number with the noun it describes, giving तीसरी (tiisrii) before a feminine noun like तीसरी मंज़िल (tiisrii manzil, 'third floor') rather than leaving it invariant. 2) Unlike English 'three' to 'third', there is no shared root visible on the surface -- तीन (tiin, 'three') and तीसरा (tiisraa) look quite different, so learners sometimes try to build the ordinal by adding a suffix to तीन (tiin) directly.

Sample Sentences:

यह इस इमारत की तीसरी मंज़िल है। This is the third floor of this building.

(yah is imaarat kii tiisrii manzil hai।)

मेरा बेटा कक्षा में तीसरे नंबर पर आया। My son came in third in his class.

(meraa betaa kakshaa men tiisre nambar par aayaa।)

कतार में तीसरा नंबर किसका है? Whose is the third number in the queue?

(kataar men tiisraa nambar kiskaa hai?)

अगली बार तीसरी सीट पर बैठना, वहाँ से बोर्ड साफ़ दिखता है। Sit in the third seat next time, the board is clearly visible from there.

(aglii baar tiisrii siit par baithnaa, vahaan se bord saaf dikhtaa hai।)

हर महीने की तीसरी तारीख़ को किराया देना होता है। The rent has to be paid on the third of every month.

(har mahiine kii tiisrii taariikh ko kiraayaa denaa hotaa hai।)

अगर वह तीसरी बार भी फेल हो जाता, तो उसका दाख़िला रद्द हो जाता। If he had failed a third time too, his admission would have been cancelled.

(agar vah tiisrii baar bhii phel ho jaataa, to uskaa daakhilaa radd ho jaataa।)

शायद यह उसकी तीसरी शादी हो। Perhaps this is his third marriage.

(shaayad yah uskii tiisrii shaadii ho।)

तीसरी बार में जाकर उसे नौकरी मिली। It was only on the third attempt that he got the job.

(tiisrii baar men jaakar use naukrii milii।)

तीसरे विश्व युद्ध की आशंका पर विशेषज्ञों की राय बँटी हुई है। Experts' opinions are divided on the possibility of a third world war.

(tiisre vishv yuddh kii aashankaa par visheshgyon kii raay bantii huii hai।)

इस विवाद में तीसरे पक्ष को दोष नहीं दिया जाना चाहिए। The third party should not be blamed in this dispute.

(is vivaad men tiisre paksh ko dosh nahiin diyaa jaanaa chaahie।)

तीसरी घंटी बजते ही दरवाज़े बंद कर दिए जाते हैं। As soon as the third bell rings, the doors are closed.

(tiisrii ghantii bajte hii darvaaze band kar die jaate hain।)

Sense 2 : the third one (standing in for a noun)

pronoun, masculine Used without an accompanying noun when the referent is clear from context, e.g. यह तीसरा है (yah tiisraa hai, 'this is the third one').

Frequency: medium

Cultural Note: This is the same word as the adjective sense simply used on its own -- much like English speakers say 'I'll take the third one' without repeating the noun. Hindi does this very naturally with ordinals.

Sample Sentences:

मुझे तीसरा पसंद है। I like the third one.

(mujhe tiisraa pasand hai।)

इनमें से तीसरा ले लो। Take the third one from among these.

(inmen se tiisraa le lo।)

तीसरा सबसे अच्छा निकला। The third one turned out to be the best.

(tiisraa sabse achchhaa niklaa।)

अगर मुझे चुनना होता, तो मैं तीसरा चुनता। If I had to choose, I would choose the third one.

(agar mujhe chunnaa hotaa, to main tiisraa chuntaa।)

शायद तीसरा ज़्यादा टिकाऊ हो। Perhaps the third one is more durable.

(shaayad tiisraa zyaadaa tikaaoo ho।)

तीसरा अभी तक नहीं आया। The third one hasn't come yet.

(tiisraa abhii tak nahiin aayaa।)

इन तीनों उम्मीदवारों में से तीसरे को नियुक्त किया गया। Among these three candidates, the third one was appointed.

(in tiinon ummiidvaaron men se tiisre ko niyukt kiyaa gayaa।)

तीसरा हमेशा सबसे धीरे बोलता है। The third one always speaks the slowest.

(tiisraa hameshaa sabse dhiire boltaa hai।)

तीसरा शायद कल तक पहुँच जाएगा। The third one will probably arrive by tomorrow.

(tiisraa shaayad kal tak pahunch jaaegaa।)

Morphology

Adjective (variable)

(sg.m): तीसरा (tiisraa)

(pl.m): तीसरे (tiisre)

(sg.f): तीसरी (tiisrii)

(pl.f): तीसरी (tiisrii)