|
 |
Half past four / half to five | ||
Tags: Number System | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| Leopejo Bilingual Triglot Senior Member Italy Joined 6109 days ago 675 posts - 724 votes  Speaks: Italian*, Finnish*, English Studies: French, Russian | Message 1 of 8 26 April 2008 at 6:37am | IP Logged |
|
Many languages use half past to express time when it's at the 30 minutes mark, but some use half to instead.
For example, half past English (half past four) Italian (quattro e mezza, "four and a half (hour)") etc. etc. half to Russian (пол пятого) Finnish (puoli viisi) Swedish? Other examples? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| bushwick Tetraglot Senior Member Netherlands Joined 6244 days ago 407 posts - 443 votes Speaks: German, Croatian*, English, Dutch Studies: French, Japanese | Message 2 of 8 26 April 2008 at 6:56am | IP Logged |
|
CROATIAN
4:00 četiri (four) 4:15 četiri i petnaest (four and fifteen) 4:30 pola četiri (half four), četiri i pol (four and half) 4:45 petnaest do četiri (fifteen to four) halb vier (half four), in German. Edited by bushwick on 26 April 2008 at 1:09pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 6894 days ago 2340 posts - 2444 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 8 26 April 2008 at 11:29am | IP Logged |
|
Catalan is extreme in this sense. Even a quarter past is expressed as a fraction of the next whole hour: 7:15 = "Un quart de vuit" = "a quarter of eight".
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Chung Diglot Senior Member Joined 7156 days ago 4228 posts - 8259 votes 20 sounds Speaks: English*, French Studies: Polish, Slovak, Uzbek, Turkish, Korean, Finnish | Message 4 of 8 26 April 2008 at 12:51pm | IP Logged |
|
Hungarian:
4:00 négy (óra) = four (hour) 4:15 negyed öt = quarter five 4:30 fél öt = half five 4:45 háromnegyed öt = three-quarter five However, it is also acceptable (but not as common) to say it as in English. 4:00 négy (óra) = four 4:15 négy tizenöt = four fifteen 4:30 négy harminc = four thirty 4:45 négy negyvenöt = four forty-five. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Talairan Tetraglot Senior Member Spain Joined 6592 days ago 194 posts - 258 votes Speaks: Afrikaans, English*, Gypsy/Romani, Dutch Studies: Spanish, Flemish, Galician, Aramaic | Message 5 of 8 28 April 2008 at 9:25am | IP Logged |
|
In English, the structure is traditionally Half past three for 3:30. However, colloquially, many people in England seem to use the structure Half three for 3:30. To my ears this should really be referring to 2:30, as in Afrikaans one would say Half drie to refer to 2:30.
And in Spanish, it would be Las tres y media "three and (a) half" to refer to 3:30. Edited by Talairan on 28 April 2008 at 9:28am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| M. Medialis Diglot TAC 2010 Winner Senior Member Sweden Joined 6357 days ago 397 posts - 508 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Russian, Japanese, French | Message 6 of 8 28 April 2008 at 4:03pm | IP Logged |
|
Swedish:
Halv fyra (half four = 3.30). Fem över halv fyra (five past half four = 3.35). 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| farrioth Senior Member New Zealand Joined 6090 days ago 171 posts - 173 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Russian, Esperanto, Sanskrit, Japanese | Message 7 of 8 29 April 2008 at 9:54pm | IP Logged |
|
Swahili is an interesting example. For Swahili speakers, time runs from dawn to dusk rather than midnight to midday. Halves are considered past the hour, as in English.
Here is Wikipedia on the subject. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6436 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 8 of 8 30 April 2008 at 5:18am | IP Logged |
|
Korean is also quite interesting because it's really the opposite of German
4:30 - 네시 반 (four o' clock half) 1 person has voted this message useful |
If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login. If you are not already registered you must first register
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
