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I know that in context of time, if for example it is: 1:45 then I should say: "It is a quarter to two". But my question is about "half" in such context, for example, in case of 1:30. Should I say "It is a half past one."? I'm asking it because I didn't notice that people use this article in context of time.

Virtuous Legend
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    I'm sorry but I really don't understand how it is duplicate while I'm asking about **"half"** and that question is about **"quarter"**, the question by itself asks about the **differences between them** and therefore it cannot be a duplicate. – Virtuous Legend Apr 15 '18 at 12:57
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    Idiomatically, we're far less likely to include the article in [*at **a** half past six*](https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=%22at+a+half+past+six%22) (that's just 6 hits in Google Books, compared to many thousands without the article). But syntactically it's the same issue. – FumbleFingers Apr 15 '18 at 13:19
  • https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/32678/what-does-the-phrase-half-seven-mean leaves out both the article and the "past" in "half seven" – Dave X Aug 25 '22 at 14:40

1 Answers1

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As user2684291 points out in his comment, you shouldn't put any article there because it is a common expression of time. Same for the quarter, where the indefinite article is optional.

Lucian Sava
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    Yes for quarters it's optional, many people do say "it is quarter past one" it is also common to hear (at least in the UK) "it is a quarter past one". – djna Apr 15 '18 at 11:54
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    It's worth noting while on the time that English speakers frequently use phrases such as **half two**, meaning half-past two, where-as in some Germanic languages the same expression means half-past one. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/32678/what-does-the-phrase-half-seven-mean – Ronald Sole Apr 15 '18 at 12:49
  • @RonaldSole See here https://ell.stackexchange.com/a/161931/12430 and here (in the bottom of the page: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/numbers/time – Virtuous Legend Apr 15 '18 at 13:01
  • @Lucian Thank you for the answer, but it is not clear to me in your answer if it is a matter of choice to add an article to **half** and **quarter**, or maybe it is optional for **"quarter"** only rather than for **half**. If it's optional for **half** as well, then it is not clear why you wrote "you shouldn't put any article there" while it is better to say it is a matter of choice. – Virtuous Legend Apr 15 '18 at 13:05
  • @Archimedean_Point, optional with quarter, never with half (in expressions of time). I hope I cleared your issue. – Lucian Sava Apr 15 '18 at 13:21