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Which one is (more) correct or common in use?

Sie ist hier seit zweieinhalb Jahren.

or

Sie ist hier seit zwei und halb Jahren.

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"Seit zweieinhalb Jahren" as several people already pointed out.

Grammatically correct would also be "Seit zwei Jahren und einem halben Jahr", although no one would say that as it is long and repetitive. If you want to separate the two and half, you could very well say "Seit zwei Jahren und sechs Monaten".

The -einhalb can be put on virtually anything – of course with time, for example:

  • dreieinhalb Wochen
  • eineinhalb Stunden
  • zweieinhalb Monate

but also

  • zweieinhalbtausend Euro (2500)
  • viereinhalb Kekse

And regionally you can also divide even further, there are uses of viertel (quarter) like "zweieinviertel Stunden", meaning "Zwei Stunden und fünfzehn Minuten".

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  • Note the exception "anderthalb" as a second form of eineinhalb.
    – bot47
    Mar 16, 2015 at 21:38
  • "anderthalb" is a corrupted form of eineinhalb, to make the speaking more fluent. As a quintessence: Don't write it, but it's totally fine when speaking. An exception is "Anderthalbhänder" (a type of sword) as it is a part of the word. Greetings from germany :)
    – Binkan Salaryman
    Mar 17, 2015 at 13:46
  • P.S.: eineindrittel, eineinfünftel, eineinsechstel, etc is also valid...
    – Binkan Salaryman
    Mar 17, 2015 at 16:19
  • @BinkanSalaryman. "Anderthalb" is not "corrupted". It goes all the way back to Old High German (anderhalb). dwds.de/?qu=anderthalb
    – fdb
    Mar 18, 2015 at 11:44
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It's zweieinhalb, zwei und halb would be wrong; that's because "Sie lebt hier seit halb Jahr" wouldn't be correct either.

A long form would be problematic in any case:

Sie lebt hier seit zwei und einem halben Jahre(n).

The numerus doesn't fit.

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  • Followup quesitons: How does one say "She is two and half years old"?
    – zud
    Mar 15, 2015 at 14:43
  • 2
    @zud... you try it.
    – Emanuel
    Mar 15, 2015 at 14:48
  • @Emanuel "Sie ist zwei und halb Jahren alt"? Because it should be nominative here, not dativ. Is that correct?
    – zud
    Mar 15, 2015 at 14:52
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    @zud... no, both answers just told you that "zwei und halb" is wrong, so why use it again? Maybe to clarify... "zwei und halb" is ALWAYS and in EVERY CONTEXT wrong.
    – Emanuel
    Mar 15, 2015 at 15:20
  • @zud "Sie ist zweieinhalb Jahre alt."
    – Darian
    Mar 15, 2015 at 16:39
2

Sie ist hier seit zweieinhalb Jahren.

Is the commonly used one while the second option you gave is incorrect.

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1
  • The second sentence should be "Sie ist hier seit zwei und einem halben Jahr."
    – Binkan Salaryman
    Mar 17, 2015 at 13:49

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