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half
When using 'half' as a determiner, you can say either 'half of the...' or simply 'half the...'. Both are correct and common in everyday English. In some regions, especially in British English, people use 'half' to tell time (e.g., 'half past six') to mean thirty minutes after the hour. Be careful with plurals: when referring to more than one half, use 'halves' (e.g., 'two halves of a whole').
💬Casual Conversation
🎬Tuesday afternoon, Chloe is procrastinating on a term paper in the library.
Chloe Smith
I'm totally fried. I've only finished half my intro.
Maya
Stop spiraling and just grind it out.
💡
Chloe uses 'fried' as slang for being mentally exhausted. Maya responds with a blunt reality check, using the phrasal verb 'grind it out' to encourage Chloe to work through the difficulty despite her fatigue. The word 'half' is central here as it quantifies Chloe's lack of progress.