Halves and quarters
You cannot buy anything or tell the time without these. Bangla puts the fraction in front of the number, and one of them counts downward from the number that follows rather than upward from it.
The trap is পৌনে: it takes a quarter off. পৌনে চার is three and three-quarters, not four and a quarter. And সাড়ে only works from three upward — one and a half and two and a half have words of their own.
| Word | Said | What it does | Example | On a clock |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| আধা | adha | half of something, used with a quantity rather than a count | আধা কেজি চাল adha keji chal — half a kilo of rice | — |
| দেড় | der | one and a half — its own word, not built from এক | দেড় কেজি der keji — one and a half kilos | দেড়টা is 1:30 |
| আড়াই | arai | two and a half — also its own word | আড়াই ঘণ্টা arai ghonta — two and a half hours | আড়াইটা is 2:30 |
| সাড়ে | sharey | and a half. It only works from three upward — 1½ and 2½ have their own words above | সাড়ে তিন কেজি sharey tin keji — three and a half kilos | সাড়ে তিনটা is 3:30 |
| সোয়া | shoya | and a quarter — a quarter more than the number that follows | সোয়া দুই কেজি shoya dui keji — two and a quarter kilos | সোয়া তিনটা is 3:15 |
| পৌনে | poune | a quarter less than the number that follows — it counts down, not up | পৌনে চার কেজি poune char keji — three and three-quarter kilos | পৌনে চারটা is 3:45 |
Back to the numbers 1 to 100, or on to hundreds, thousands, লাখ and কোটি.