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Henry74 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Plural of phrases with "half" in them
Hi everyone,
Could you please help me with the plural of phrases that have "half" in them?
Half a page
I'm reading a book. At one point I skip half a page because it's boring. I do it again later, and I keep doing it. At some point I could say
- I've been skipping __________.
a) half-pages
b) half a pages
c) halves a page
d) none of the above
Similarly, half an hour:
Two _____ make up one hour.
Thank you for your help
H.
Could you please help me with the plural of phrases that have "half" in them?
Half a page
I'm reading a book. At one point I skip half a page because it's boring. I do it again later, and I keep doing it. At some point I could say
- I've been skipping __________.
a) half-pages
b) half a pages
c) halves a page
d) none of the above
Similarly, half an hour:
Two _____ make up one hour.
Thank you for your help
H.
Top answer
a) half pages Two half hours make up one hour . But a native speaker would more likely say Two thirty-minute periods make an hour.
- a) half pages Two half hours make up one hour .
- But a native speaker would more likely say Two thirty-minute periods make an hour.
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4 Answers
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a) half pages
Two half hours make up one hour. But a native speaker would more likely say Two thirty-minute periods make an hour.
Two half hours make up one hour. But a native speaker would more likely say Two thirty-minute periods make an hour.
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I differ on the first one. In a multiple-choice test you need to pick the one best answer out of those given. Here I think the best answer is d., none of the above. The reason is that the sentence, "I've been skipping half-pages [I've never seen this word in my life].", is grammatical and possible in theory, but would be very unusual usage. You'd more likely hear something like: "I've been sk
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AnonymousYou'd more likely hear something like: "I've been skipping half of the book."Also, I've been skipping over half of every page.
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I've been skimming the book because it is so boring.
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