Word
De pont vertrekt pas om half drie.
Meaning
The ferry doesn't leave until half past two.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of De pont vertrekt pas om half drie.
drie
three
half
half (past) / half (fraction)
om
at (time)
vertrekken
to leave / to depart
Questions & Answers about De pont vertrekt pas om half drie.
Why isn't there a negative word like niet for 'doesn't leave until'?
In Dutch, the word pas means 'only' or 'not until' when referring to time. You don't need a negative word like niet because pas already carries the meaning of an event happening later than expected.
Wait, doesn't half drie mean half past three (3:30)?
No, this is a classic trap! In Dutch, half-hours look ahead to the next hour. So half drie literally means halfway to three, which is 2:30. If you wanted to say 3:30, it would be half vier.
Why is om used before the time?
The preposition om is used to indicate a specific time on the clock, exactly like 'at' in English. So om half drie translates perfectly to 'at half past two'.
The English translation talks about the future, but vertrekt is present tense. Is that correct?
Yes, this is very common! Dutch frequently uses the present tense for scheduled future events, especially when a specific time is already mentioned in the sentence.