Meaning of 半年
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- half a year
How to use 半年
半年 works like a time phrase and does not need a measure word, so you say 半年 directly, not 半个年. It often appears after a verb to show how long something lasted, as in 我学了半年中文 (wǒ xué le bànnián zhōngwén), I studied Chinese for half a year.
半 (bàn) means half and 年 (nián) means year, so 半年 is simply half a year. Picture a calendar torn neatly down the middle, leaving six months on each side.
Common mistake: Learners often say 一个半年 or 半个年, but 年 never takes 个, so the correct forms are 半年 and 一年半 (yì nián bàn, a year and a half). Also keep the tones clear: 半 is fourth tone and 年 is second tone, bàn nián.
半年 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
半 bàn · half · 5 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
年 nián · year · 6 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
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- 5
- 6
Related words
Words that share a character with 半年.
| 一半 | yībàn | half |
| 今年 | jīnnián | this year |
| 去年 | qùnián | last year |
| 明年 | míngnián | next year |
| 新年 | xīnnián | New Year |
| 半天 | bàntiān | half of the day; a long time |
| 年轻 | niánqīng | young |
| 少年 | shàonián | early youth; youngster |
| 半夜 | bànyè | midnight; in the middle of the night |
| 青年 | qīngnián | youth; youthful years |
| 青少年 | qīng-shàonián | adolescent; youth |
| 周年 | zhōunián | anniversary; annual |
Questions about 半年
What does 半年 mean?
半年 (bàn nián) means "half a year".
How do you write 半年?
半年 is made of 2 characters: 半 (5 strokes), 年 (6 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 半年 an HSK word?
Yes. 半年 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How do I say a year and a half in Chinese?
Say 一年半 (yì nián bàn), with 半 placed after 年. Putting 半 first, as in 半年, means only half a year.
How is 半年 different from 半天?
半年 means six months. 半天 (bàntiān) means half a day, but in casual speech it often just means a long time, as in 我等了半天 (wǒ děng le bàntiān), I waited forever.