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Ovtolevks
Is "half to ..." a standard English usage when speaking about the time?
19 nov. 2014 19:44
Antwoorden · 18
3
No. In standard English we only say 'half past'. This is where the English-speaking mind differs from the German one. To the German mind, the half-way point between the hours 'belongs to' the following hour, whereas in English it belongs to the hour that has just 'passed'. 3.30 is half past three. The concept of 'half to' would be very strange indeed to English speakers. If you said 'half to four' for 3.30 it would confuse people at lot.
19 november 2014
2
People will understand what you are saying but I normally hear people say "half past" the previous hour rather than "half to" or "half till" the next hour. Example:
It is half past 3 (3:30)
19 november 2014
1
In US English we don't say half past, but say " four thirty ".
19 november 2014
1
We never say "half to." 3:30 is "half past three," never "half to four." "Half to" not only sounds wrong, but it could even be misunderstood and result in missing a meeting.
You need to understand phrases like "half past" when you hear them, but I suggest that you just say "three-thirty."
Nowadays, most people, most of the time, read the time from a digital display of some kind. "Three-thirty" sounds perfectly clear and natural and always has, but I think it is becoming more and more common and that phrases like "half past" and "quarter to" are dying out. We no longer think of an hour as a circle, or mentally hands moving a quarter or halfway around it.
20 november 2014
In the Uk it would be quarter to or quarter past the full hour
half hours will be here 3.30 half three , they do not use "past"
19 november 2014
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Ovtolevks
Taalvaardigheden
Chinees (Mandarijn), Nederlands, Engels, Fins, Frans, Duits, Latijn, Russisch
Taal die wordt geleerd
Chinees (Mandarijn), Nederlands, Frans, Duits
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