百分之二十 (bǎi fēn zhī èr shí) — 20 percent, twenty percent

Definition

The Chinese way to write percentages: 百分之 + number. So 百分之二十 is 20% — swap the number to say any percentage (百分之五十 = 50%).

numeral
20 percenttwenty percent
Easily confused

Examples

  • 百分之二十。
    bǎi fēn zhī èr shí De xué shēng tōng guò le kǎo shì.
    Twenty percent of the students passed the exam.
  • 百分之二十。
    Gōng zī zēng jiā le bǎi fēn zhī èr shí.
    The salary increased by twenty percent.
  • 百分之二十。
    Zhǐ yǒu bǎi fēn zhī èr shí de rén tóng yì zhè ge jì huà.
    Only twenty percent of people agree with this plan.

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.

二 is drawn as two parallel strokes, where the number of strokes shows the amount.

Open 二 →

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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