In French, there are three different ways to express half with nouns and one with adjectives.
la moitié de [quelque chose] = half the/half of the [noun]
La moitié de means half the/half of the [noun]. It is always feminine.
Note that you can also say une moitié de to express one half of [something].
un/une demi-[nom] = half a /a half-sized [noun]
Depending on context, Un/une demi-[nom] can either refer to half a full-sized item (i.e. bucket) or to one of these half-sized items, like half bottles. The context will usually help distinguish which one it is, but you use demi- in both cases.
Un/une agree in gender with the object it refers to, BUT demi- never changes!
Un/une agree in gender with the object it refers to, BUT demi- never changes!
Note that the object referred to is attached to demi with a hyphen.
[nom] et demi/demie = [noun] and a half
[nom] et demi/demie means [noun] and a half.
Demi here agrees in gender with the object it refers to.
Demi here agrees in gender with the object it refers to.
Note that et demi is placed after the object it refers to.
à moitié [adjectif] = half/halfway [adjective]
To say something is half/halfway [adjective], in French you use à moitié [adjectif].
The adjective after à moitié agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to.
The adjective after à moitié agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to.
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Learn more about these related French grammar topics
- Slang/Expression/Highly Idiomatic
