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Why is it “half an hour†instead of “a half hour�
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Today our lecturer said that we were gonna have "half an hour" break. Initially I thought it's a mistake and it should be "a half hour" but latter I was told that it's correct. Assuming that it's indeed correct, my question is why we put the article ("an)" after the quantifier rather than before it. (such as: "a one person" rather than "one a person")
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edited Sep 6 at 2:39
Eddie Kal
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asked Sep 5 at 22:53
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up vote
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Today our lecturer said that we were gonna have "half an hour" break. Initially I thought it's a mistake and it should be "a half hour" but latter I was told that it's correct. Assuming that it's indeed correct, my question is why we put the article ("an)" after the quantifier rather than before it. (such as: "a one person" rather than "one a person")
articles time
edited Sep 6 at 2:39
Eddie Kal
3,88821439
asked Sep 5 at 22:53
Conceivable assessment
10.2k47152292
add a comment |Â
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
up vote
1
down vote
favorite
Today our lecturer said that we were gonna have "half an hour" break. Initially I thought it's a mistake and it should be "a half hour" but latter I was told that it's correct. Assuming that it's indeed correct, my question is why we put the article ("an)" after the quantifier rather than before it. (such as: "a one person" rather than "one a person")
articles time
edited Sep 6 at 2:39
Eddie Kal
3,88821439
asked Sep 5 at 22:53
Conceivable assessment
10.2k47152292
Today our lecturer said that we were gonna have "half an hour" break. Initially I thought it's a mistake and it should be "a half hour" but latter I was told that it's correct. Assuming that it's indeed correct, my question is why we put the article ("an)" after the quantifier rather than before it. (such as: "a one person" rather than "one a person")
articles time
edited Sep 6 at 2:39
Eddie Kal
3,88821439
asked Sep 5 at 22:53
Conceivable assessment
10.2k47152292
edited Sep 6 at 2:39
Eddie Kal
3,88821439
edited Sep 6 at 2:39
Eddie Kal
3,88821439
edited Sep 6 at 2:39
Eddie Kal
3,88821439
3,88821439
asked Sep 5 at 22:53
Conceivable assessment
10.2k47152292
asked Sep 5 at 22:53
Conceivable assessment
10.2k47152292
asked Sep 5 at 22:53
Conceivable assessment
10.2k47152292
10.2k47152292
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
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6
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"half an hour" is an abbreviation for "half [of] an hour".
The phrase "half of" is quite common: "half of the people in the auditorium", "half of the cake", etc. In fact, "half of" is so common your brain may automatically insert "of" after "half". So then "of" is elided.
answered Sep 5 at 23:51
Sam
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Both half an hour and a half hour are fine. They are acting as adjectival phrases for the noun break.
Without an adjectival phrase, you would simply say:
We are going to have a break.
A break is countable (you can have one break, two breaks, or more). So, it has an article in front of it.
Depending on which version of adjectival phrase you use, it will either come before break or after it.
We are going to have a break of half an hour.
We are going to have a half-hour break.
answered Sep 6 at 1:03
Jason Bassford
8,7301926
add a comment |Â
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
6
down vote
"half an hour" is an abbreviation for "half [of] an hour".
The phrase "half of" is quite common: "half of the people in the auditorium", "half of the cake", etc. In fact, "half of" is so common your brain may automatically insert "of" after "half". So then "of" is elided.
answered Sep 5 at 23:51
Sam
2,36159
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
"half an hour" is an abbreviation for "half [of] an hour".
The phrase "half of" is quite common: "half of the people in the auditorium", "half of the cake", etc. In fact, "half of" is so common your brain may automatically insert "of" after "half". So then "of" is elided.
answered Sep 5 at 23:51
Sam
2,36159
add a comment |Â
up vote
6
down vote
up vote
6
down vote
"half an hour" is an abbreviation for "half [of] an hour".
The phrase "half of" is quite common: "half of the people in the auditorium", "half of the cake", etc. In fact, "half of" is so common your brain may automatically insert "of" after "half". So then "of" is elided.
answered Sep 5 at 23:51
Sam
2,36159
"half an hour" is an abbreviation for "half [of] an hour".
The phrase "half of" is quite common: "half of the people in the auditorium", "half of the cake", etc. In fact, "half of" is so common your brain may automatically insert "of" after "half". So then "of" is elided.
answered Sep 5 at 23:51
Sam
2,36159
edited Sep 6 at 0:34
answered Sep 5 at 23:51
Sam
2,36159
answered Sep 5 at 23:51
Sam
2,36159
answered Sep 5 at 23:51
Sam
2,36159
2,36159
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Both half an hour and a half hour are fine. They are acting as adjectival phrases for the noun break.
Without an adjectival phrase, you would simply say:
We are going to have a break.
A break is countable (you can have one break, two breaks, or more). So, it has an article in front of it.
Depending on which version of adjectival phrase you use, it will either come before break or after it.
We are going to have a break of half an hour.
We are going to have a half-hour break.
answered Sep 6 at 1:03
Jason Bassford
8,7301926
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Both half an hour and a half hour are fine. They are acting as adjectival phrases for the noun break.
Without an adjectival phrase, you would simply say:
We are going to have a break.
A break is countable (you can have one break, two breaks, or more). So, it has an article in front of it.
Depending on which version of adjectival phrase you use, it will either come before break or after it.
We are going to have a break of half an hour.
We are going to have a half-hour break.
answered Sep 6 at 1:03
Jason Bassford
8,7301926
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
Both half an hour and a half hour are fine. They are acting as adjectival phrases for the noun break.
Without an adjectival phrase, you would simply say:
We are going to have a break.
A break is countable (you can have one break, two breaks, or more). So, it has an article in front of it.
Depending on which version of adjectival phrase you use, it will either come before break or after it.
We are going to have a break of half an hour.
We are going to have a half-hour break.
answered Sep 6 at 1:03
Jason Bassford
8,7301926
Both half an hour and a half hour are fine. They are acting as adjectival phrases for the noun break.
Without an adjectival phrase, you would simply say:
We are going to have a break.
A break is countable (you can have one break, two breaks, or more). So, it has an article in front of it.
Depending on which version of adjectival phrase you use, it will either come before break or after it.
We are going to have a break of half an hour.
We are going to have a half-hour break.
answered Sep 6 at 1:03
Jason Bassford
8,7301926
answered Sep 6 at 1:03
Jason Bassford
8,7301926
answered Sep 6 at 1:03
Jason Bassford
8,7301926
answered Sep 6 at 1:03
Jason Bassford
8,7301926
8,7301926
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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