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> The moment you use a fraction, the assumption is that you would need to count all I guess, so it’s treated as individual objects. I always explained it to my
by TeMPOraL 2y ago
> The moment you use a fraction, the assumption is that you would need to count all I guess, so it’s treated as individual objects.
I always explained it to myself that, when you use a fraction, you're focusing on that one incomplete object, also calling more attention to the individuality of objects in the set. So in case of say, "100.5 książki", I like to imagine shoving ~95 books into the box very quickly, then slowing down for the last 6 books, counting them off one by one, to know exactly when to stop and saw the 106th book in half.
IDK what the official justification is.
- alterom 2y agoInteresting. It's the opposite in Russian — it'd be "100½ książek" there (сто c половиной книжек), even though it's "½ książki" (половина книжки). "½ książek" (половина книжек) is also valid, and it means "half of (all the) books". But in "100½", it's the whole number that determines the ending (i.e. case) of the word.
- TeMPOraL 2y agoFWIW, both "½ książek" and "½ książki" are valid Polish, but they mean different things: - "½ książek" == "połowa książek" == "half of the books", and refers to half of some set, e.g. "połowa książek spadła z półki", "half of the books fell off the shelf". It gets tricky when the set turns out to contain only one book, but that's not spelling/grammar issue anymore. - "½ książki" == "pół książki" or "połowa książki" == "half of the book", as in "pierwszap połowa tej książki jest nudna", "the first half of this book is boring". There's some difference between "pół" and "połowa" that makes them not interchangeable in most cases, but I don't feel confident enough to articulate a rule here.
- alterom 2y agoSame in Russian and Ukrainian in that regard.