Middle

Middle
 

Would someone please help me distinguish between the following words (and add more words to the list if necessary):

medio/a, mediado/a, mitad

Please give me an idea of when each is used, and some examples would be extremely helpful. Thanks!!!

Te doy algunos ejemplos. Quizá te sirvan.

Hay tres casas y la de en medio es verde.
There are three houses and the middle one is green.

Juan es mi medio hermano.
Juan is my half brother.

I will be leaving in the middle of June.
Me voy a mediados de junio.

In the middle of the 16th century.
A mediados del siglo XVI.

Juan tiene dos hermanos, uno más grande que el, y uno más chico. Juan es el hermano de en medio.
Juan has two brothers, one is older than he is and one is younger. Juan is the middle brother.

I'm in the middle of the book. (I'm halfway through the book.)
Voy a la mitad del libro.

Se paró a media carretera.
He stood in the middle of the road.

The flowers are in the middle of the table.
Las flores están en el centro de la mesa.

Hay tres manzanas de diferentes tamaños; yo quiero la mediana.
There are three differently sized apples; I want the middle one.

Es una playera mediana.
It's a medium tee shirt.

He arrived in the middle of the morning.
El llegó a media mañana.

middle age(d) = (de) mediana edad
Middle ages = Edad Media
Middle East = Oriente Medio
middle management = gerencia intermedia
middle class = clase media

Medio(s) also means means. :) By all means - por todos los medios.

Mediado also means mediated.

Thanks, David - YES, very helpful indeed!! So, how exactly can I distinguish between using medio/a and mitad?

That's also helpful, Hernán. Thank you! :)

Well, first remember that "medio" is an adjective meaning middle, and "mitad" is a noun meaning half.

Except when used as in half brother? ;)

Your list is wonderful, David. There are just a couple of things I would say differently (the Atlantic as usual, I guess)
You wrote:
I'm in the middle of the book. (I'm halfway through the book.)
Voy a la mitad del libro.

Se paró a media carretera.
He stood in the middle of the road.
I would say:
Voy por la mitad del libro
Se paró en medio de la carretera.

And I love your translation of tee shirt. Here we call it camiseta.

What about "two and a half" or something like that? In that case, "half" is a noun, but wouldn't you say "dos y medio"?

Also - how would you say "it's the middle of the month"? Would that use "mitad"?

Dos y medio, media naranja, etc, sí.

"A mediados del mes". Véase también "a principios del mes" y "a finales del mes".

Para mi "se paró a media carretera" significaría que mas o menos se paró a medio camino (hacia un lugar)

Se paró en el medio de la carretera would be he stood in the middle of the road.

También se dice "a (la) mitad del mes"

Me gusta esta distinción, tiene sentido. :) :thumbsup:

En holandés nos decimos 'halverwege' es decir 'a media carretera' / ' a medio camino' también (cuando yendo a algún lugar. 'Midden op de weg' = como 'en el medio de la carretera' entonces nosotros tenemos exactamente la misma distinción como en español. :D

Además creo que en inglés sea la diferencia entre 'halfway' y 'in the middle of the road' ¿no? :)

1/2 = un medio
3/2 = tres medios

1 1/2 cucharada = una cucharada y media (de)
2 1/2 litros = dos litros y medio (de)

Para preparar el arroz, se necesitan dos tazas y media (2 1/2) de agua por cada taza y media (1 1/2) de arroz.
For cooking rice, one needs two and a half cups of water for each cup and a half of rice. (Don't try this at home, it's not true) ;)

Compré tres metros y medio de tela para hacerme un vestido.
I bought three and a half meters of cloth (?) to make myself a dress.

In mathematics: Un medio más un medio hacen un entero. 1/2 + 1/2 = 1

THANKS, everyone - this discussion is helpful for my thinking and trying to put sentences together!! :)

Me tenías preocupado... ;)

Correcto.

Aunque dependería de la proposición usada en inglés.

halfway on the road to...

halfway of the road...

:)

@pjt: era información "a medias", sólo para usar más "medios". ;)

:):D :lol:

Media chistosita,¿eh? :D

Diría "halfway along the road to" y "halfway across the road".

Tomisimo can you set some examples with MID in English??

I can think of some, off the top of my head:
Mid-morning
In her mid forties
Mid-Atlantic
mid 1600s
mid-life crisis
I'm sure there are a lot more I cannot remember now.