How to say "second (ordinal, e.g. 2nd)" in Arabic
CognateMeaningsecond (ordinal, e.g. 2nd)
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ثَانِي
thānīת'אני
ثاني
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
שני
sheniشِنِي
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ث-ن-يHebrew root
ש-נ-יHebrew שני 'second' is simply the ordinal of two (שתיים), and Arabic thānī does the exact same thing to the exact same root — ث answering ש as always. It's the ordinal cousin of the time-unit 'second' (ثانية), which is really just this same word worn down into a noun for the 60th of a minute.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
تَانِي
tāniתאניAlso means 'again, another': marra tanya, another time.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
تَانِي
tāniתאניث becomes t: tāni.
In a phrase
الطَّابِق الثَّانِي
aṭ-ṭābiq ath-thānīא-טאבק א-ת'אניthe second floor