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ChineseGrammarWiki


			
				
					
						
						
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<p>The Chinese word 半 (bàn) means "half." That's simple enough, but
what can get slightly tricky is the rules for how it combines with
<a href="measure_word" title="wikilink">measure words</a>.</p>
<h2 id="basic-usage">Basic Usage</h2>
<h3 id="used-alone">Used Alone</h3>
<h4 id="structure">Structure</h4>
<p>You'll need to use a <a href="measure_word" title=
"wikilink">measure word</a> (Measure Word) in this structure.</p>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>半 + Measure Word + Noun</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples">Examples</h4>
<p>The <a href="measure_word" title="wikilink">measure words</a>
are also indicated below.</p>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>个</strong> 小时 <span class=
"pinyin"><em>bàn</em> <strong>gè</strong>
xiǎoshí</span><span class="trans">half an hour</span></li>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>个</strong> 月 <span class=
"pinyin"><em>bàn</em> <strong>gè</strong> yuè</span><span class=
"trans">half a month</span></li>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>碗</strong> 米饭 <span class=
"pinyin"><em>bàn</em> <strong>wǎn</strong> mǐfàn</span><span class=
"trans">half a bowl of rice</span></li>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>瓶</strong> 酒 <span class=
"pinyin"><em>bàn</em> <strong>píng</strong> jiǔ</span><span class=
"trans">half a bottle of liquor</span></li>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>份</strong> 炒面 <span class=
"pinyin"><em>bàn</em> <strong>fèn</strong>
chǎomiàn</span><span class="trans">half a serving of chow
mein</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="with-a-number">With a Number</h3>
<p>When it's more than just a half, then 半 (bàn) comes after the
<a href="measure_word" title="wikilink">measure word</a> instead of
before. It's the difference between "half an hour" and "an hour and
a half."</p>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>个</strong> 小时 <span class=
"pinyin"><em>bàn</em> <strong>gè</strong>
xiǎoshí</span><span class="trans">half an hour</span></li>
<li>一 <strong>个</strong> <em>半</em> 小时 <span class="pinyin">yī
<strong>gè</strong> <em>bàn</em> xiǎoshí</span><span class=
"trans">an hour and a half</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>The order is actually basically the same as what we do in
English (we just don't have so many pesky measure words to keep
track of in English!).</p>
<h4 id="structure-1">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Number + Measure Word + 半 + Noun</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples-1">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>三 <strong>个</strong> <em>半</em> 小时 <span class="pinyin">sān
<strong>gè</strong> <em>bàn</em> xiǎoshí</span><span class=
"trans">three and a half hours</span></li>
<li>两 <strong>个</strong> <em>半</em> 月 <span class="pinyin">liǎng
<strong>gè</strong> <em>bàn</em> yuè</span><span class="trans">two
and a half months</span></li>
<li>一 <strong>斤</strong> <em>半</em> 水果 <span class="expl">One "jin"
= 500g</span><span class="pinyin">yī <strong>jīn</strong>
<em>bàn</em> shuǐguǒ</span> <span class="trans">one and a half jin
of fruit</span></li>
<li>一 <strong>瓶</strong> <em>半</em> 白酒 <span class="pinyin">yī
<strong>píng</strong> <em>bàn</em> báijiǔ</span> <span class=
"trans">one and a half bottles of wine</span></li>
<li>四<strong>块</strong> <em>半</em> 巧克力 <span class="pinyin">sì
<strong>kuài</strong> <em>bàn</em> qiǎokèlì</span> <span class=
"trans">four and a half pieces of chocolate</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="notable-exceptions">Notable Exceptions</h2>
<p>There are some words that act as their own measure words,
notably the time words 天 (tiān), meaning "day," and 年 (nián),
meaning "year."</p>
<h3 id="used-alone-1">Used Alone</h3>
<h4 id="structure-2">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>半 + 天 / 年</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples-2">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>天</strong> <span class="pinyin"><em>bàn</em>
<strong>tiān</strong></span><span class="trans">half a
day</span></li>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>年</strong> <span class="pinyin"><em>bàn</em>
<strong>nián</strong></span><span class="trans">half a
year</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>Note that you do <em>not</em> need to use 个 (gè) here; in fact,
it's <em>wrong</em> to do so:</p>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>个</strong> 天 <span class=
"pinyin"><em>bàn</em> <strong>gè</strong> tiān</span><span class=
"trans">half a day</span></li>
<li><em>半</em> <strong>个</strong> 年 <span class=
"pinyin"><em>bàn</em> <strong>gè</strong> nián</span><span class=
"trans">half a year</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h3 id="with-a-number-1">With a Number</h3>
<p>天 (tiān) and 年 (nián) aren't the <em>only</em> words that take
this alternate pattern, but they're the two key ones you need to
learn first.</p>
<h4 id="structure-3">Structure</h4>
<div class="jiegou">
<p>Number + 天 / 年 + 半</p>
</div>
<h4 id="examples-3">Examples</h4>
<div class="liju">
<ul>
<li>两 <strong>天</strong> <em>半</em> <span class="pinyin">liǎng
<strong>tiān</strong> <em>bàn</em></span><span class="trans">two
and a half days</span></li>
<li>一 <strong>年</strong> <em>半</em> <span class="pinyin">yī
<strong>nián</strong> <em>bàn</em></span><span class="trans">a year
and a half</span></li>
<li>三 <strong>天</strong> <em>半</em> <span class="pinyin">sān
<strong>tiān</strong> <em>bàn</em></span><span class="trans">three
and a half days</span></li>
<li>四 <strong>年</strong> <em>半</em> <span class="pinyin">sì
<strong>nián</strong> <em>bàn</em></span><span class="trans">four
and a half years</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul>
<li><a href="Structure_of_times" title="wikilink">Structure of
times</a></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="Category:A2_grammar_points" title=
"wikilink">Category:A2 grammar points</a></p>
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