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How to Say ‘Half past eight’ in Italian

Le otto e mezza

leh OT-toh eh MED-dzah

[leh OT-toh eh MED-dzah]

💬 Usage Tip: Clock times take le because "hours" is understood: le nove "nine o'clock". The one exception is l'una "one o'clock".

Phrase Breakdown

Le otto

leh OT-toh

Eight o'clock

Hours take the article 'le', because 'ore' (hours) is understood. Hold the double T: OT-to.

Example

Arrivo alle otto.

I'll arrive at eight.

Words in this phrase

[leh]

the (with hours)

Feminine plural article used before hours, since 'ore' (hours) is implied.

Example

Sono le cinque.

It's five o'clock.

otto

[OT-toh]

Eight

The numeric representation of the number 8.

Example

Il film inizia alle otto.

The movie starts at eight.

e mezza

eh MED-dzah

and a half (thirty)

'Mezza' means half. Say the double Z firmly, like 'dz': MED-dza.

Example

Sono le nove e mezza.

It's half past nine.

Words in this phrase

[eh]

and

A conjunction used to connect ideas or qualities.

Example

Nella frase E collaborativa, E aggiunge una seconda qualità positiva dell'azienda.

In the phrase 'E collaborativa,' 'E' adds a second positive quality of the company.

mezza

[MED-dzah]

half

Feminine of 'mezzo'; used for half past the hour.

Example

Sono le due e mezza.

It's half past two.

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