Asking number/order in question

Question

Fact: "Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth president of USA"

I know that Abraham Lincoln was a president of USA but I don't know the number/order. How do I pose this as a Question in English?

There was a 500 bounty placed on the question which I have identified answers the OP's question. Please read the highest upvoted answer, and "winner" of said bounty. — Mari-Lou A, Aug 17 '15 at 06:55

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 17 '15 at 06:33

There isn't an easy, formal way to ask. You could try

Which position does Abraham Lincoln hold in the list of US Presidents by order of their inauguration?

(Aside: Did you know that Benjamin Franklin was the only President of the United States who was never President of the United States?)

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Which position does Abraham Lincoln occupy in the succession sequence of the Presidents of the United States?
Which position does Abraham Lincoln occupy in the succession order of the Presidents of the United States?

n

the act or an instance of one person or thing following another
a number of people or things following one another in order
the act, process, or right by which one person succeeds to the office, etc, of another
the order that determines how one person or thing follows another
(Heraldry) a line of descent to a title, etc
(Biology) ecology the sum of the changes in the composition of a community that occur during its development towards a stable climax community
in succession in a manner such that one thing is followed uninterruptedly by another

[from Latin successio, from succēdere to succeed]

sucˈcessional adj sucˈcessionally adv

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 17 '15 at 07:02

0

Google gives a lot of results on what number X was Y? construction. Nor sure if it's correct, I'm not a native speaker.

answered Aug 17 '15 at 07:02

olegst

score -1 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 17 '15 at 13:41

-1

Casually, Abraham Lincoln was president number?

edited Aug 17 '15 at 13:41

curiousdannii

answered Aug 17 '15 at 06:52

verykiasu

4 Answers4