<blockquote>
<p>三只虾：3 prawns</p>
</blockquote>
<p>good</p>
<blockquote>
<p>半虾：half a prawn</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Wrong. It should be 半只虾</p>
<blockquote>
<p>一半只虾： half a prawn</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Wrong. See above.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>三只半虾：3 and 1 half prawns?? or 3 half prawns = 1 and 1 half prawns??</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Three and a half prawns.</p>
<p>Chinese grammar wiki has a page about <a href="https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22half%22_with_%22ban%22" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Expressing half with ban</a>.</p>
<p>The structure &quot;Number + Measure Word + 半 + Noun&quot; means &quot;<em>Number</em> and a half <em>nouns</em>&quot;</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-07T14:28:11.490Z
2020-08-07T14:28:11.490Z
fefe
<p>三只半 = 三只 + 半只 = 3.5只</p>
<p>三半只虾 Is wrong, but you can say 三个半只虾, which means there are 3 pieces, and each piece is a half prawn. It doesn't equal to 1.5 只虾 (一只半虾), because there is not a complete one.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-07T14:25:17.720Z
2020-08-07T14:25:17.720Z
River
<p>3.5只。</p>
<p>‘半’ following a measure word means 'and a half' (e.g. 两年半： two years and a half; 三只半虾：three prawns and a half), while followed by a mearsure word it means 'half a' (e.g. 半只虾： half a prawn).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-07T21:04:58.403Z
两年半 doesn't have any measure word
blackgreen
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-09T08:26:06.150Z
两年半 is actually a shorter form of 两年半（时间）and the latter is quite common in both written and spoken language (e.g 这个项目花了我两年半时间。It took me 2 years to finish the project.). So here 年 is better to be interpreted as a measure word - it specifies the time is measured by 'year', instead of 'day/week' etc, and would make more sense in the general 'number + measure word + noun' framework in Chinese.
Mu Young
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-07T17:59:23.090Z
2020-08-07T17:59:23.090Z
Mu Young
<p>I was reading about <a href="http://hsk2020.com/text?t=486" rel="nofollow noreferrer">《三只半虾》</a> 齐白石， 以画虾享誉画坛。</p>
<p>三只虾：3 prawns</p>
<p>半虾：half a prawn</p>
<p>一半只虾： half a prawn</p>
<p>三只半虾：3 and 1 half prawns?? or 3 half prawns = 1 and 1 half prawns??</p>
<p>*三半只虾？？？= ？</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-07T14:18:28.943Z
[Reference here](http://hsk2020.com/text?t=486)
Andrews
<number>
How many 虾 are 三只半虾？
# How many 虾 are 三只半虾？

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-08-07)

I was reading about [《三只半虾》](http://hsk2020.com/text?t=486) 齐白石， 以画虾享誉画坛。

三只虾：3 prawns

半虾：half a prawn

一半只虾： half a prawn

三只半虾：3 and 1 half prawns?? or 3 half prawns = 1 and 1 half prawns??

\*三半只虾？？？= ？

**Tags:** number

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: [Reference here](http://hsk2020.com/text?t=486)  

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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-08-07. Score: 3

> 三只虾：3 prawns

good

> 半虾：half a prawn

Wrong. It should be 半只虾

> 一半只虾： half a prawn

Wrong. See above.

> 三只半虾：3 and 1 half prawns?? or 3 half prawns = 1 and 1 half prawns??

Three and a half prawns.

Chinese grammar wiki has a page about [Expressing half with ban](https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22half%22_with_%22ban%22).

The structure "Number + Measure Word + 半 + Noun" means "*Number* and a half *nouns*"


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### Answer by username_3 on 2020-08-07. Score: 2

三只半 = 三只 + 半只 = 3.5只

三半只虾 Is wrong, but you can say 三个半只虾, which means there are 3 pieces, and each piece is a half prawn. It doesn't equal to 1.5 只虾 (一只半虾), because there is not a complete one.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2020-08-07. Score: 1

3.5只。

‘半’ following a measure word means 'and a half' (e.g. 两年半： two years and a half; 三只半虾：three prawns and a half), while followed by a mearsure word it means 'half a' (e.g. 半只虾： half a prawn).

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: 两年半 doesn't have any measure word  
> **username_4**: 两年半 is actually a shorter form of 两年半（时间）and the latter is quite common in both written and spoken language (e.g 这个项目花了我两年半时间。It took me 2 years to finish the project.). So here 年 is better to be interpreted as a measure word - it specifies the time is measured by 'year', instead of 'day/week' etc, and would make more sense in the general 'number + measure word + noun' framework in Chinese.  

---

