mezz'ora
Half an hour in Italian is mezz'ora.
mezz'ora is used to describe a period of time lasting thirty minutes.
What does it mean word for word?
The term is a contraction of mezza ora, where mezza means half and ora means hour.
Which one should you use?
While mezza ora is grammatically correct, mezz'ora is the standard and much more common way to express this in Italian.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word mezza undergoes elision, meaning the final vowel is dropped and replaced by an apostrophe, because the following word ora begins with a vowel.
Did you know?
- In Italy, saying you will arrive in a mezz'ora is often used colloquially to mean 'soon' or 'a short while', rather than exactly thirty minutes.
- Italian has a specific phrase fare mezz'ora di… used to describe spending a half-hour doing a particular activity, like fare mezz'ora di jogging.
- While mezza means 'half', Italian uses this same word to describe the 'half' of a physical object, such as mezza mela for 'half an apple'.
Examples in context
- Sarà qui tra mezz'ora.He will be here in half an hour.This sentence is useful for seeing how to express that someone will arrive in a certain amount of time using mezz'ora.Tatoeba #3412796 by Guybrush88, translation #282742 by CK
- Tra mezz'ora si comincia!We start in half an hour!This sentence shows how to indicate a starting time in half an hour using mezz'ora.Tatoeba #1185215 by Guybrush88, translation #1651307 by marcelostockle
- È in ritardo di mezz'ora.You're half an hour late.This sentence demonstrates how to describe being late by a specific duration using mezz'ora.Tatoeba #7071122 by Guybrush88, translation #5851693 by CK
- Ci vediamo al cinema fra mezz'ora, giusto?We'll meet at the movies in half an hour, right?
- 39 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofia and Alessandro are deciding when to leave for the cinema.
- SofiaHo bisogno di mezz'ora per prepararmi.I need half an hour to get ready.
- AlessandroVa bene, allora partiamo più tardi.All right, then we will leave later.
- SofiaCi vediamo tra mezz'ora in salotto.I'll see you in half an hour in the living room.
- AlessandroPerfetto, ti aspetto lì.Perfect, I'll wait for you there.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
