Hälfte

German

Etymology

From Middle Low German helfte, derived from half (“half”). The form entered early modern German via Central German. The alternation -b- ↔ -ft- between halb and Hälfte has not been levelled, probably because the same alternation occurs also—for different reasons—in native High German words (compare schreiben ↔ Schrift). Cognate with Dutch helft.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈhɛlftə/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

Hälfte f (genitive Hälfte, plural Hälften)

  1. half; fifty percent of something
  2. half, share; any of two correlating pieces, whatever the size
    Ich will die größere Hälfte!
    I want the bigger half!

Declension
Declension of Hälfte
singular plural
indef. def. noun def. noun
nominative eine die Hälfte die Hälften
genitive einer der Hälfte der Hälften
dative einer der Hälfte den Hälften
accusative eine die Hälfte die Hälften

Derived terms
  • hälftig

Further reading
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