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What's the correct translation for 1.5 months?

Is it "一个月半" or "一个半月“?

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  • I think 半 acts as a modifier for 一个 in 一个半月, but is a shortened representation of 又半个月 in 一个月半. The way 个月 works is similar to 块, 岁, etc. – 杨以轩 Dec 1 '13 at 7:22
  • @QuestionOverflow, in 半个月, 半 is a numeral, rather than a modifier; i.e., in the way the phrase is constructed, 半个月 = 一个月. Very theoretically, you could create 半个半月 to mean ‘three fourths of a month’. (But don’t—you wouldn’t be understood!) – Janus Bahs Jacquet Dec 6 '13 at 15:03
  • @JanusBahsJacquet, in the way the phrase is constructed, 半个月 = 一个月, which phrase are you referring to? – 杨以轩 Dec 8 '13 at 3:14
  • @Q, I'm referring to the phrase 半个月. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Dec 8 '13 at 3:33
  • @JanusBahsJacquet, sorry, I don't get you at all. How can 半个月 (0.5 month) = 一个月 (1 month)? – 杨以轩 Dec 8 '13 at 12:26
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一个半月 according to Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar. A quick search online, however, turned up plenty of uses of both phrases.

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Technically 一个半月 is better and more common in written scripts. Although I don't understand why 一个半月 returns few results in Google, but those mentioning 一个月半 seem to be mostly related to infant raising. I'd say both is okay if you want to use in informal speeches.

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    Basically when referring to age, it's always 一岁半, 两岁半, and thus (as a natural extension) 一个月半, 两个月半 and this is only used when referring to age. – user58955 Jan 26 '14 at 19:41
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For me, both of them are acceptable and mean the same thing. however, i do prefer 一个半月 over 一个月半. the latter seems a liitle too colloquial for me.

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In classical Chinese we say "月半" without quantities because there are only 1 for 月 and 1 for 半.

In modern Chinese both are acceptable, but 一个半月 seems more natural to most native speakers, especially in oral communication.

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It should be "一个半月". It's easy. When we refer to somethings, we usually say "mumber"+"classifier". For this phrase, "一个半" is "number" and "月" is classifier. BTW, 'more than one month'(less than two months) should be "一个多月" rather than "一个月多".

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I'm a native Chinese speaker. I can't agree with 'Red Wolf's Husband'. I can't explain too much from grammar point of view. But I can guarantee you that "一个半月" is the correct way to express 1.5 month. "一个月半" can also be understood by native speaker though. "一个月半" sounds not that smooth especially in oral Chinese.

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For my experience, when “半” appears in a sentence, its position should be " number + classifier + 半 + noun". When you say "I've been waiting for 1.5 months.", then "月“ functions as the noun, and “个” as the classifier. But sometimes “月” can also be used as a classifier, especially when describing the age of an infant. That's why we say “一个月半（大）的 婴儿”.

However, there is no general rule for which noun can be used as a classifier. For example, “天” and “年” always appear as classifiers.

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  • I don't think 半 is ever a classifier. See this. – 杨以轩 Dec 1 '13 at 7:09
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I am a local chinese,i think, for us,both are ok,when a chinese want to say 1.5 mouth, we usually say "一个月半" rather then "一个半月". And sometimes, "一个月半" also means half a mouth if you separate it as "一个" and "半月",that mean a half month

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easily, there should be one unit character between number and the 半.

一个半月 一天半 for example.

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protected by 杨以轩 Jan 22 '14 at 14:53

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