百分之六十 (bǎi fēn zhī liù shí) — 60 percent, sixty percent

Definition

Read as a fixed phrase meaning 'sixty percent' (60%). Used like any 百分之X expression to state proportions, rates, or shares.

numeral
60 percentsixty percent

Examples

  • 百分之六十。
    bǎi fēn zhī liù shí De xué shēng tōng guò le kǎo shì.
    Sixty percent of the students passed the exam.
  • 百分之六十。
    Gōng sī de lì rùn zēng zhǎng le bǎi fēn zhī liù shí.
    The company's profit increased by sixty percent.
  • 百分之六十。
    Zhè ge chéng shì bǎi fēn zhī liù shí de jū mín yōng yǒu sī jiā chē.
    Sixty percent of residents in this city own private cars.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
白
白bái百bǎi
Same sound today

百 combines 一, which carries the number meaning, with 白, which provides the sound.

Open 百 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

分 pairs 八 (to separate) with 刀 (knife), showing something cut apart with a knife.

Open 分 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape pairs 止, a foot, with 一, a beginning place, and means to go.

Open 之 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 六 may come from a simple drawing of a shed, or from an ancient counting mark.

Open 六 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The early shape 十 was mostly a single vertical stroke, sometimes with a dot, and later gained a horizontal stroke to form a cross. For the number ten, it marked the next digit above one.

Open 十 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.