‘半价’ literally means ‘half price’ — it combines 半 (bàn), meaning ‘half’, and 价 (jià), meaning ‘price’ or ‘cost’. It functions as a noun or noun phrase indicating that something is being sold or offered at exactly 50% of its original price. This term is widely used in commercial contexts such as retail, dining, transportation, and entertainment — for example, during sales promotions, student discounts, or senior citizen offers.

You’ll often see 半价 on signs, menus, or online listings (e.g., ‘儿童半价’ — ‘children half price’). While it’s grammatically neutral and common in both spoken and written Chinese, it’s rarely used alone without context; it usually follows a noun (e.g., 门票半价) or appears after 是 or 打 (as in 打半价). It can also function attributively before a noun when modified by 的 (e.g., 半价的门票), though this is less frequent in casual speech.