Learn Italian: Sono le quattro e mezzo.

Sono le quattro e mezzo.

It is half past four.

Breakdown of Sono le quattro e mezzo.

Questions & Answers about Sono le quattro e mezzo.

Why does this sentence use Sono le instead of a singular "It is" like È?

In Italian, telling the time literally translates to "They are the hours..." Since four is plural, you use the plural verb sono ("they are") and the feminine plural article le (for the hidden word ore, meaning "hours").

Is there a reason we say le quattro rather than just quattro?

Yes! When telling time, you always need the definite article before the number. Because the word for "hour" (ora) is feminine, you use the feminine plural article le. The only exception is one o'clock, which is singular (l'una).

Wait, shouldn't "half" be feminine (mezza) to match the hours?

You can actually use both! Sono le quattro e mezzo uses mezzo as a fixed, unchanging word for "half". However, it is just as common and correct to say Sono le quattro e mezza, where mezza agrees with the hidden feminine singular word ora (hour).

How does the structure here compare to the English "half past four"?

In English, we often say the minutes or fraction before the hour ("half past four"). Italian does the opposite: you always start with the hour (le quattro), add e (and), and then give the minutes or fraction (mezzo). Literally, you are saying "the four and a half".