11 1/2 chapter

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Is 11 1/2 chapter written as eleventh and a half chapter?

Thanks.

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It is unclear what is meant. The quantity 'eleven and a half', otherwise 11.5 or 11½ or, if you can't find the ½ character, 11 1/2, is plural, thus 'chapter' should be 'chapters'. Do you want to use the phrase in something like e.g. 'I have read eleven and a half chapters of this book' (i.e. you are half way through the twelfth chapter)?

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@centrox,

Thanks, centrox.

11th chapter is eleventh chapter, but 11 1/2 chapters is eleventh and a half chapters.

That's interesting and understandably confusing.

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@tanguatlay,

chapters are measured in whole units, so defining the halfway point of one is meaningless...

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@tanguatlay,

tanguatlay wrote:

Is 11 1/2 chapter written as eleventh and a half chapter?

We do not use ordinal numbers (first, second, third, eleventh, hundredth, etc), with fractions.

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@Region Philbis,

Region Philbis wrote:

chapters are measured in whole units, so defining the halfway point of one is meaningless...

centrox wrote:

We do not use ordinal numbers (first, second, third, eleventh, hundredth, etc), with fractions. (Region beat me to it).

Do you mean to convey the idea of being part (e.g. half) way though a chapter? E.g. I am half way through the eleventh chapter?

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@tanguatlay,

tanguatlay wrote:

11th chapter is eleventh chapter, but 11 1/2 chapters is eleventh and a half chapters.

No. See above.

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@centrox,

Thanks, centrox.

Do you mean to convey the idea of being part (e.g. half) way though a chapter? E.g. I am half way through the eleventh chapter?

That's what I meant?

2 Replies

@tanguatlay,

tanguatlay wrote:

Do you mean to convey the idea of being part (e.g. half) way though a chapter? E.g. I am half way through the eleventh chapter?

That's what I meant?

As already said, you cannot use ordinal numbers (ending -th etc) to express something involving a fraction. You would use the ordinal for the whole number and a separate phrase for the fractional part like the expression in blue above.

The idea of 'eleventh and a half' is ambiguous. If you mean eleven whole chapters and, in addition, half a chapter, then that places you in the middle of the twelfth chapter. So define carefully exactly what you want to say.

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@centrox,

Thanks, centrox.

I have read eleven and a half chapters of this book' (i.e. you are half way through the twelfth chapter)?

The above sentence quoted by you illustrates the usage.

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@tanguatlay,

how would you even know you were half way through it, unless you counted the pages and did the math?

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@Region Philbis,

Region Philbis wrote:

how would you even know you were half way through it, unless you counted the pages and did the math?

You would be more likely to say part way through the twelfth chapter, or Chapter Twelve or Chapter 12, if they are thus named. Note capitalisation.

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@centrox,

centrox wrote:

Region Philbis wrote:
how would you even know you were half way through it, unless you counted the pages and did the math?

You would be more likely to say part way through the twelfth chapter, or Chapter Twelve or Chapter 12, if they are thus named. Note capitalisation.

Thanks, centrox. Your help is deeply appreciated.

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@tanguatlay,

tanguatlay wrote:

I am half way through the eleventh chapter?

in that case you have read ten chapters and part of the eleventh chapter.

ten and a half

not eleven and a half

11 1/2 chapter

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