Learn Arabic (Modern Standard): ذهب الموظفون إلى المسرح الجديد في الساعة الثامنة والنصف. - The employees went to the new theatre at half past eight.

In Arabic, we tell time using ordinal numbers (like first, second, third) as adjectives for the word "hour" (الساعة). So, "eight o'clock" is literally expressed as "the eighth hour" (الساعة الثامنة). Note that because "hour" is a feminine word, the number takes its feminine form as well.

How does the Arabic phrase build "half past eight" in this sentence?

To say "half past," Arabic uses the word for "half" (نصف). You attach the prefix "and" (و) to "the half" (النصف), creating والنصف. The full time phrase literally reads as "in the hour, the eighth, and the half".

The subject "the employees" (الموظفون) is plural, so why is the verb ذهب in the singular "he went" form?

This is a key Arabic rule! When a sentence starts with the verb (which is very common in Arabic), the verb always stays in the singular form, even if the subject following it is plural. It only changes to match the gender of the subject, which is masculine here.

Why does the word for "new" (الجديد) have ال (the) attached to it?

In Arabic, adjectives follow the noun and must exactly match it. Because "the theatre" (المسرح) is definite (it has ال meaning "the"), the adjective describing it must also take ال. This is why the phrase literally translates to "the theatre the new."