Chinese word

半

Pronunciation

Pinyinbàn

Meaning

  • numberhalf

Example

他吃了半个蛋糕。tā chī le bàn gè dàn gāo

He ate half a cake.

Illustration for 半 (half)

More examples

她喝了半杯牛奶。tā hē le bàn bēi niú nǎi

She drank half a cup of milk.

Core concept

One of two equal parts of a whole, extended to anything that is only partly complete or only partway along.

Common phrases

  • 半个bàn gè

    half a

  • 半杯bàn bēi

    half a cup

  • 半小时bàn xiǎo shí

    half an hour

Similar words

一半yí bàn: One of the two equal parts into which a whole is divided.
半个bàn gè: A colloquial quantity phrase placed before a noun to mean half of that thing.

Definition in Chinese

作为数词，表示整体的二分之一；也可作副词表示部分或未完全的状态。zuò wéi shù cí biǎo shì zhéng tǐ de èr fēn zhī yī yě kě zuò fù cí biǎo shì bù fèn huò wèi wán quán de zhuàng tài

Word origin

半 (bàn, "half") is traditionally explained as a character showing a whole divided into two, linking the act of dividing with one of the two resulting parts.

Usage tips

  • For a food portion, the expression for half comes before a classifier, as in bàn ge dàngāo, meaning "half a cake"; English usually puts the article directly before the noun.

Other meanings

  • halfwayadverb

Related words

Word lists with this word