French Word of the Week is back for another weekly instalment! In today’s blog, the word we’ll be exploring in detail is demi.
First of all, you can start by listening to the French pronunciation in the audio clip below:
As for the translation, it’s not a word that we’re unfamiliar with in English. We sometimes use demi- as a prefix to note that something is half of something else. In fact, it’s familiar because the English prefix is a loan word from the French demi, also meaning ‘half’. But as this blog unfolds, you’ll see how both languages use the word in very different ways, despite sharing a meaning.
In French, demi can be a prefix, an adjective, an adverb, or a noun. It all depends on the context. With so many different grammatical topics to cover with just this small word, some of our readers might want to brush up on the grammar terms in our Easy Learning French Grammar section.
It’s time to get into some examples of demi to show you how things work. To make it a bit simpler, we’ll start by using demi(e) as a noun. Note the spelling change where the feminine version has an -e on the end, making it demie. This spelling change can be useful, as it helps you know how to translate it:
un demi half-pint (a standard measure if you’re ordering a beer on draught in France, about 25cl); half-back (a position in football)
une demie half-bottle; half a bottle
Nous prenons une bouteille de champagne ou une demie ? Are we getting a bottle of champagne or a half-bottle?
la demie half past the hour; the half-hour (in terms of time)
Les bus partent chaque heure à la demie. The buses depart every hour, on the half-hour.
Now we’ll look at some examples of demi(e) as a prefix, adverb or adjective:
Il faut faire demi-tour, tu ne vas pas dans le bon sens. You need to do a U-turn; you’re not going the right way.
Mes parents sont en demi-pension dans un hôtel à Tenerife. My parents are staying half-board in a hotel in Tenerife.
lait demi-écrémé (m) semi-skimmed milk
demi-finale (f) semi-final
beurre demi-sel (f) slightly salted butter
Je préfère les vins demi-secs. I prefer semi-dry wines.
Je ne savais pas que t’as une demi-sœur. I didn’t know that you have a half-sister.
« C’est un film long ?» « Oui très long. Quatre heures et demie. » “Is it a long film?” “Yes, it’s long. Four and a half hours.” (Note that this adjective relates to ‘heure’, which is feminine.)
Il y a un an et demi que je leur ai parlé. It’s been a year and a half since I spoke to them. (Note that this adjective relates to ‘an’, which is masculine.)
We hope that our blog has explained enough about the French word demi to get you comfortable with using it. There’s quite a lot of detail and examples to get through, but our blogs don’t do things by halves!
Written by Holly Tarbet, freelance copywriter and editor.
All opinions expressed on this blog are those of the individual writers, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of Collins, or its parent company, HarperCollins
