Breakdown of انتهى العرض في الساعة العاشرة والنصف.
الal
the
وwa
and
فيfî
in / about, regarding
ساعةsâ'a
watch / hour
عاشرâshir
tenth
عرض'ard
show
نصفnisf
half
انتهىintahâ
to finish
Questions & Answers about انتهى العرض في الساعة العاشرة والنصف.
Why does the Arabic sentence use العاشرة (the tenth) instead of the normal word for "ten"?
When telling the time in Arabic, we use ordinal numbers (like first, second, third) rather than regular counting numbers. So, instead of saying "hour ten," Arabic literally says الساعة العاشرة ("the tenth hour").
How does Arabic express "half past" in this sentence?
Arabic adds fractions of an hour using و (wa), which means "and." The word النصف means "the half." So, to say "half past ten," Arabic literally says "the tenth hour and the half" (الساعة العاشرة والنصف).
Why is the preposition في (fī) used here? Doesn't it usually mean "in"?
Yes, في generally means "in," but Arabic also uses it to express the time an event happens. While English says "at half past ten," Arabic uses في to say "in the hour."
Why does العاشرة have a taa marbuuta (ـة) at the end?
The word for hour, الساعة, is a feminine noun because it ends with a taa marbuuta (ـة). In Arabic, the ordinal number acts as an adjective describing the hour. Since adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe, العاشرة takes a feminine ending to match الساعة.
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