Why was qu’un demi du sac de riz wrong? It should have been une moitié and I can’t see why. What makes du sac de riz feminine?
And how do I know when this question has been answered. I get no email notifications of new answers. Thanks.
In French, there are three different ways to express half .
la moitié de [quelque chose] = half -the- [something]
J'ai bu la moitié de la bouteille.
I drank half the bottle
Tu as mangé la moitié du gâteau.
You ate half the cake.
Elle a gardé la moitié des bonbons pour plus tard.
She kept half the sweets for later.
Il ne mange qu'une moitié du biscuit.
He only eats one half of the biscuit.
La moitié de means half -the- [something]. 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 [noun]
J'ai bu une demi-bouteille.
I drank half a bottle.
J'ai rempli un demi-seau d'eau.
I filled half a bucket of water.
Un/une demi-[nom] means half a [noun].
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
Marc a quinze ans et demi.
Marc is fifteen and a half.
J'ai bu une bouteille et demie.
I drank a bottle and a half
Il a rempli un cahier et demi.
He filled one notebook 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.
Learn more about these related French grammar topics
Slang/Expression/Highly Idiomatic
Examples and resources
et demi/demie (and a half)
Il a rempli un cahier et demi.
He filled one notebook and a half.
J'ai bu une bouteille et demie.
I drank a bottle and a half
Marc a quinze ans et demi.
Marc is fifteen and a half.
la moitié de (half of)
Il ne mange qu'une moitié du biscuit.
He only eats one half of the biscuit.
Elle a gardé la moitié des bonbons pour plus tard.
She kept half the sweets for later.
J'ai bu la moitié de la bouteille.
I drank half the bottle
Tu as mangé la moitié du gâteau.
You ate half the cake.
un/une demi- (a half)
J'ai rempli un demi-seau d'eau.
I filled half a bucket of water.
J'ai bu une demi-bouteille.
I drank half a bottle.
Q&A Forum 12 questions, 18 answers
Hi Liz,
As explained in the lesson, half of something is, la/une moitié de...
The word 'moitié' is a feminine noun and doesn't influence the gender of the word that follows it.
Il reste la moitié du gateau = There's half of the cake left
J'ai fait la moitié de mon travail = I have done half of my work
As for your email notifications, Rowen wrote to you yesterday, maybe look in your spam folder if you haven't seen it?
Hope this helps!
Liz asked:View original
Moitié or demi
Why was qu’un demi du sac de riz wrong? It should have been une moitié and I can’t see why. What makes du sac de riz feminine?
And how do I know when this question has been answered. I get no email notifications of new answers. Thanks.
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RobertKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Sorry for the typo in the above
Again, One of your examples under the heading -
la moitié de [quelque chose] = half -the- [something]
was “Il ne mange qu'une moitié du biscuit.”
Can you clarify, then, why response “Tu as bu une moitié de la bouteille.” was marked incorrect and the suggested correct response was “la moitié de” ?
Asked 8 months ago
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
I am afraid there is no grammatical explanation for this, it is stylistic. The French just tend to say "la moitié" more often than "une moitié".
Alan Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
According to the lesson, "la moitié de" means "half the [something]", and "une moitié de" means "one half of [something]". I'm not sure if this is also true in French, but in English I think you can only say "one half" if it is possible to separate the thing into two halves. A biscuit, a cake or an apple, say, can be cut or split into two, and you can eat one half and leave the other. But you can't do that with a bottle. You can eat one half of the biscuit (a KitKat for example), but you can't drink one half of the bottle.
Robert asked:View original
Sorry for the typo in the above
Again, One of your examples under the heading -
la moitié de [quelque chose] = half -the- [something]
was “Il ne mange qu'une moitié du biscuit.”
Can you clarify, then, why response “Tu as bu une moitié de la bouteille.” was marked incorrect and the suggested correct response was “la moitié de” ?
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Stephen Kwiziq community member
la motié was always translated for ´thé something but my answer was wrong half my salary ´demi’ ?
Asked 1 year ago
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Stephen,
I am not entirely sure what your question is. But half my salary I would tranlate as "la moitié de mon salaire".
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Stephen Kwiziq community member
Hi Chris,
Me too, and that is the answer I gave. Not sure why it was marked as incorrect.
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Can you post the full sentence? It might give a clue why one is considered correct over the other.
-- Chris.
Stephen asked:View original
la motié was always translated for ´thé something but my answer was wrong half my salary ´demi’ ?
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GrahamKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Am I correct in thinking one uses demi when talking about something with an indefinite article and moite with a definite article?
Asked 1 year ago
Hi Graham,
As Chris has already pointed out you will find examples of demi and moitié used with both definite and indefinite articles. I can see where the confusion occurs as in English you only have one word - half.
Demi will usually be used with other words except when you ask for a beer in a bar : Je voudrais un demi s'il vous plaît.
But normally it will be used before the noun it refers to to mean half of it, une demi-heure, une demi-bouteille, une demi-journée, une demi-portion, un demi-verre ... e.g. J'ai fait un demi-marathon, l'hotel est à formule demi-pension.
Moitié is a noun and here are some examples:
J'ai fini la moitié de mon travail , j'ai lu la moitié de mon livre, nous avons mangé la moitié du gateau ( you cannot use demi in that instance - moitié meaning half of that whole).
There are some interesting expressions using demi and moitié , like à demi /à moitié which mean the same thing, half done.
e.g. une bouteille à demi pleine, un pot à demi plein , un mur à moitié peint, un travail à moitié fini
'Ma moitié' which means my better half, my soul mate, my spouse.
Hope this helps but not easy !
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Graham, I don't think you can slice it that way. In my understanding it is perfectly OK to say, "Donnez-moi cette demi-baguette."
The distinction is with respect to using it as an adjective (demi/e) or a noun (la moitié).
Une demi-page est rouge. -- A half-page is red.
Une moitié de la page est rouge. -- One half of a page is red.
There are foten used colloquialisms and appreviated forms evolving around demi.
Il est six heures et demie. -- It is half past six.
This is an abbreviation of "...six heures ete une demi-heure".
On se renconte à la demie. -- We are meeting at half-past. (This assumes an agreement about which hour one is talking).
Je voudrais un demi. -- I would like a half-pint of beer. (This works only colloquially in a bar when ordering beer.)
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Chris Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Darn, again the typos....:
foten --> often.
appreviated --> abbreviated
ete --> et
-- Chris.
Graham asked:View original
Am I correct in thinking one uses demi when talking about something with an indefinite article and moite with a definite article?
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DraganaKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Detail of question does not populate? J'ai bu une demi-bouteille. - Why not une demie- bouteille?
J'ai bu une demi-bouteille. - Why not une demie-
Asked 1 year ago
Hi Dragana,
the rule is this: when "demi" comes before the noun, it is always and invariable "demi". When it succeeds the noun, it changes according to the gender.
Une demi-heure. -- Half an hour.
Une heure et demie. -- One and a half hour.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Dragana asked:View original
Detail of question does not populate? J'ai bu une demi-bouteille. - Why not une demie- bouteille?
J'ai bu une demi-bouteille. - Why not une demie-
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NickKwiziq community member
Il ne mange qu'une moitié du biscuit. He only eats one half of the biscuit.
Does this not also means 'he eats only one half of the biscuit'? Or if not, how do you differentiate between these two meanings? Thanks
Asked 2 years ago
Ron Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Bonjour Nick,
Let's see if this helps any.
Toute la journée, il n'a mangé que la moitié d’un biscuit
All day, he ate only one-half of a biscuit
compare the above to this phrase:
Il n'a mangé que la moitié du biscuit
He ate only half of the biscuit
In other words, the differentiation comes whether is un biscuit, a biscuit, or du biscuit, remember that «du» is the shortened form of «de le» hence the biscuit.
J'espère que cela vous aidera.
Bonne chance,
Ron
Nick asked:View original
Il ne mange qu'une moitié du biscuit. He only eats one half of the biscuit.
Does this not also means 'he eats only one half of the biscuit'? Or if not, how do you differentiate between these two meanings? Thanks
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SueKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
If we have a quantity ,does it work in the the same way. he ate half of the apples.
How would you translate he ate half of the apples. would you need to insert a word such as he ate half the quantity of the apples?
Asked 2 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Sue !
Here, because it's a whole composed of only two halves, you will use "la moitié de" as such:
"Il a mangé la moitié des pommes."
That means there was a specific quantity of apples, and he ate half of this quantity.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Sue asked:View original
If we have a quantity ,does it work in the the same way. he ate half of the apples.
How would you translate he ate half of the apples. would you need to insert a word such as he ate half the quantity of the apples?
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AurélieKwiziq team member
Tatiana asked: "Should not [La moitié de baguette] work as well as [Une demi-baguette]?
___ baguette, s'il-vous-plaît ! (Half a baguette, please !)
Asked 3 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Tatiana !
Here there's a nuance of meaning between une demi-baguette and la moitié de [la] baguette.
Une demi-baguette means "one half of baguette" or "half a baguette": here it's a general characteristic of the object, as opposed to a full baguette.
La moitié de [la] baguette means "the half of baguette" or "half the baguette", implying that we're talking about a specific baguette here, of which you'd want half.
The sentence here could be heard in a boulangerie, where you would ask for half a baguette, hence une demi-baguette.
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Aurélie asked:View original
Tatiana asked: "Should not [La moitié de baguette] work as well as [Une demi-baguette]?
___ baguette, s'il-vous-plaît ! (Half a baguette, please !)
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DianaKwiziq community member
Can you use demi(e) and moitié interchangeably
j'ai mangé la moitié du chocolat j'ai mangé un demi-chocolat
Asked 3 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Diana !
In most cases meaning "half", "demi(e)" and "une/la moitié de" are equivalent.
Une demie-baguette / la moitié d'une baguette
However, "demi(e)" refers more to a characteristic of the object (it's a half-thing) rather than a quantity as such.
So in the case of chocolate, you only say "un demi-chocolat" if you actually ate a half (piece of) chocolate, but if you refer to half a given quantity of chocolate, then it will be "la moitié du chocolat" :)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
In most cases meaning "half", "demi(e)" and "une/la moitié de" are equivalent.
Une demie-baguette / la moitié d'une baguette
However, "demi(e)" refers more to a characteristic of the object (it's a half-thing) rather than a quantity as such.
So in the case of chocolate, you only say "un demi-chocolat" if you actually ate a half (piece of) chocolate, but if you refer to half a given quantity of chocolate, then it will be "la moitié du chocolat" :)
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Diana asked:View original
Can you use demi(e) and moitié interchangeably
j'ai mangé la moitié du chocolat j'ai mangé un demi-chocolat
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ChrisKwiziq community member
Tu as bu ___ la bouteille
In the explanation for this lesson, it appears to say that "une moitié de" is just as acceptable as "la moitié de", but my answer has been marked as incorrect. I don't understand...
Asked 3 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Chris !
Une moitié de la bouteille means "one half of the bottle", whereas la moitié de la bouteille means "half the bottle".
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
Chris asked:View original
Tu as bu ___ la bouteille
In the explanation for this lesson, it appears to say that "une moitié de" is just as acceptable as "la moitié de", but my answer has been marked as incorrect. I don't understand...
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JohnKwiziq Q&A regular contributor
How do you say a "half-bottle" of wine?
In the US we call the 375ml-sized bottle a "half-bottle." Is there an equivalent in French that does not mean "half a bottle" but refers to the size of the bottle?
Asked 3 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour John,
Now that's an interesting topic!
Here's what I can say for sure: when you consider a half bottle, as in half full, you will use "une demie bouteille".
Now if you're talking about those smaller bottles you can buy in shops, we don't really have a specific word for them, other than "une petite bouteille de vin" or again "une demie bouteille de vin".
You can refer to "un demi" when you order what is equivalent to half a pint [more for beer though] or about 25cl / a quarter of a litre.
Voilà ! I hope that answers your question!
John asked:View original
How do you say a "half-bottle" of wine?
In the US we call the 375ml-sized bottle a "half-bottle." Is there an equivalent in French that does not mean "half a bottle" but refers to the size of the bottle?
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