What's the difference between 'half a point' and 'half point'?

[learning54]

Hi teachers,
What's the difference between 'half a point' and 'half point'?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Barb_D]

I know you'll be shocked by my reply.

What is the context?

 

[learning54]

I know you'll be shocked by my reply.

What is the context?

Hi,
I'm not shocked at all. If I ask a question, you have the right to narrow the topic.
We were correcting an exercise in class and the answer was partially right. Then a student said, 'half point' and I thought to myself, 'which one, half point or half a point'?

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi,
I'm not shocked at all. If I ask a question, you have the right to narrow the topic.
We were correcting an exercise in class and the answer was partially right. Then a student said, 'half point' and I thought to myself, 'which one, half point or half a point'?

So the student was suggesting that you give him/her 0.5 points because their answer was partially right? I think you'll find a BrE vs AmE difference here.

BrE - I think I should get half a point for that answer.
AmE - I think I should get a half point for that answer.

As always, I'm ready to be corrected on this by my AmE colleagues but my American friend in Madrid always seemed to use "a half" where I used "half a" ("half an hour" versus "a half hour".)

 

[Barb_D]

I think in this case, I"d say something like "Okay, I can give you half a point" for that answer. But if it were a five-point question, and it half correct, then it would be two and a half points.

 

[SoothingDave]

Americans are more flexible. We could say half a point or a half point.