百分之三十 (bǎi fēn zhī sān shí) — thirty percent

Definition

Literally '30 out of 100': 百分之 is the formal way to say 'percent', used with any number (百分之五十 = 50%).

numeral
thirty percent
Easily confused

Examples

  • 百分之三十。
    bǎi fēn zhī sān shí De xué shēng tōng guò le kǎo shì.
    Thirty percent of the students passed the exam.
  • 百分之三十。
    Gōng sī jīn nián xiāo shòu é zēng zhǎng le bǎi fēn zhī sān shí.
    The company's sales increased by thirty percent this year.
  • 百分之三十。
    Tā zhī wán chéng le bǎi fēn zhī sān shí de gōng zuò.
    He only completed thirty percent of the work.

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 →

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

三 is drawn as three parallel strokes, like 一 with one stroke and 二 with two.

Open 三 →

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 →

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