Breakdown of Ze lossen de voorraad om half tien.
tien
ten
half
half (past) / half (fraction)
om
at (time)
ze
they; she (unstressed form of zij) / them (object)
lossen
to unload
de voorraad
the stock
Questions & Answers about Ze lossen de voorraad om half tien.
Why does half tien translate to "half past nine" instead of "half past ten"?
In Dutch, telling time with half hours looks forward to the next hour. Half tien literally means "halfway to ten" (9:30). If you want to say "half past ten" (10:30), you have to say half elf.
Does the verb lossen mean "to solve"?
No, lossen means "to unload" (like cargo or stock). You might be thinking of the separable verb oplossen, which means "to solve" or "to dissolve."
What preposition do we use for clock times in Dutch?
We use om, which acts just like "at" does in English when talking about a specific time on the clock. "At half past nine" is om half tien.
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