"It is 5:30 now."

Translation: 现在五点半。

[Chimakwa]

What role does "ban4" play in the sentence?

[Cinnamon5230]

半 = half.
五点半 = half past five.

[XiangMao1111]

Is it the general word for half or only used to mean half an hour?

[bcdixon]

It's the ":30" part of "5:30". It means "half" - in telling time think of it as "half past".

[marcelvoid]

"half" of hour

[marcelvoid]

"Half" of the hour

[iAtul]

半 = half,partly or in middle of something.

[Jose-Urdaneta]

Don't quote me on this, but I think it means "half" as in half an hour. So 5:30. :)

[XfpQhZl0]

Ban4 means "half". So literally, the time is "5 o clock half", or 5:30

[deactivated user]

It is the equivalent of "half past"

[deactivated user]

It is the equivalent of half past

[vonbar]

Half. "Five hour half" 5:30

[ScottDwane]

With time it means half of an hour.

[Mackenzie_lai]

i don't know why but 现在五点半sounds unatural to me becuase I would usually say 现在是五点半am I wrong?

[KX3.]

You can say both, the former might sound a little more casual.

[taofuri]

Isn't it more formal to say something like "现在是五点半"?

[KX3.]

It does sound more formal. Both are correct, though.

[Simon401978]

what is the role of 在 here?

[LauPaSat]

it's part of 现在 which means "now"

[bdurfy]

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "IT IS 5:30" AND "IT IS 5:30 NOW"?

[RandyAlexa]

A: What time is your class tomorrow?
B: It is 5:30.

[Yufan87797]

should be现在是五点半。

[YAUHEIYEHR]

现在是5点半should also be accepted

[deactivated user]

Why can't I use ending 钟 as in 现在五点半钟, can't you do that?