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)

half; fifty percent of something
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

Related terms

halb
halbieren