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百分比 (bǎi fēn bǐ) — percentage

Definition

百分比 is the everyday 'percentage' (a number out of 100, like 30%). 占比 is the share or proportion of one part in a whole; 百分点 is a difference between two percentages, used for comparison.

noun
percentage

Examples

  • 百分比。
    Zhè ge gōng sī de lì rùn bǎi fēn bǐ bǐ qù nián gāo.
    This company's profit percentage is higher than last year.
  • 百分比。
    Qǐng bǎ jié guǒ yòng bǎi fēn bǐ biǎo shì.
    Please express the result as a percentage.
  • 百分比？
    Nǐ néng gào sù wǒ zhè ge bǎi fēn bǐ shì zěn me suàn chū lái de ma?
    Can you tell me how this percentage was calculated?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

百分hundred parts
百bǎihundred分fēnpart
偏正Modifier + head
比bǐratio

百分 (hundred parts) modifies 比 (ratio), giving percentage.

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 →

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

  • 匕匕bǐ
  • 匕匕bǐ

比 is two 匕 placed side by side. Chu Wan-li treats both as sound parts, while an old reading takes the side-by-side arrangement as putting things next to each other.

Open 比 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9Math

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