Numbers

Original teaching practice. Read one pattern, cover its model and try the questions before checking the separate answer section. Examples adapted from Chinese Grammar Wiki (AllSet Learning, CC BY-NC-SA) retain the course-reference provenance.

Fractions with part分fēn(of — literary)之zhī

A survey result

• Your class did a survey: of every five students, one walks to school.
• one fifth五分之一wǔ fēn zhī yī(modifier / structural particle)的destudent学生xué shēngto walk走路zǒu lùto go to school上学shàng xué。 – "One fifth of the students walk to school."

Denominator + part分fēn(of — literary)之zhī + numerator

• B part分fēn(of — literary)之zhī A = A/B: the bottom number comes first. one third三分之一sān fēn zhī yī = 1/3, 四分之三sì fēn zhī sān = 3/4.
• Before a noun, add (modifier / structural particle)的de: 三分之二sān fēn zhī èr(modifier / structural particle)的deperson人rén – "two thirds of the people".

three三sānparts of分之fēn zhītwo二èr的depeople人rénagree同意tóng yì。

Percentages: percent百分之bǎi fēn zhī

• percent百分之bǎi fēn zhī + number = per cent: 百分之五十bǎi fēn zhī wǔ shí = 50%, a hundred percent百分之百bǎi fēn zhī bǎi = 100%.
• we / us我们wǒ men(modifier / structural particle)的deachievement成绩chéng jìto raise提高tí gāo(completed / change)了le百分之二十bǎi fēn zhī èr shí。 – "Our scores rose by 20%."

the price价格jià gérose提高tí gāo了leper cent百分之bǎi fēn zhītwenty二十èr shí。

Bottom number first

• Say the denominator first: 3/4 = 四分之三sì fēn zhī sān, not somewhat三分sān fēn之四zhī sì (that is 4/3).
• 50% is 百分之五十bǎi fēn zhī wǔ shí, not fifty五十wǔ shípercent百分之bǎi fēn zhī.

half一半yí bàn and somewhat几分jǐ fēn(of — literary)之zhīhow many / a few几jǐ

• 1/2 is usually half一半yí bàn in speech: half一半yí bàn(modifier / structural particle)的destudent学生xué shēng – "half of the students".
• To ask "what fraction?", say somewhat几分jǐ fēn(of — literary)之zhīhow many / a few几jǐ: to take possession of占zhànsomewhat几分jǐ fēn(of — literary)之zhīhow many / a few几jǐ？ – "What fraction is it?"

half一半yí bàn的destudents学生xué shengare是shìgirls女生nǚ shēng。

Recap

• B part分fēn(of — literary)之zhī A = A/B (bottom first): 四分之三sì fēn zhī sān = 3/4; percent百分之bǎi fēn zhī N = N%.
• half一半yí bàn = a half; + (modifier / structural particle)的de before a noun.

Practise this pattern step by step.

Practice without the models

Choose a pattern, cover its teaching examples, and attempt its questions. Use the labels to find feedback in the separate key.

Fractions with part分fēn(of — literary)之zhī

0701.1 Write 2/5 in Chinese: …………

0701.2 What is somewhat三分sān fēn之四zhī sì?

• A. 3.4
• B. 3/4
• C. 4/3
• D. 34%

0701.3 Match each expression to its value.

• 1. 百分之五十bǎi fēn zhī wǔ shí
• 2. one-quarter四分之一sì fēn zhī yī
• 3. 三分之二sān fēn zhī èr
• 4. a hundred percent百分之百bǎi fēn zhī bǎi

• A. 50%

• B. 1/4

• C. 100%

• D. 2/3

0701.4 In speech, half一半yí bàn is usually used for one half.

True or false? Explain or repair the statement.

0701.5 Your class did a survey: of every five students, one walks to school. Close the examples. Say a Mandarin response, then write it in Chinese. Explain briefly in English what the lesson’s pattern adds. Compare with the model, then change one detail and try again.

Write or say your own response before reading the key.

A fresh situation

R1. Interpret and repair. A class has thirty pupils; ten cycle. A learner writes somewhat三分sān fēn之十zhī shí for the fraction cycling. Correct it.

R2. Use it yourself. State that two out of five books are new and explain numerator and denominator.

Write your responses before opening the key. Compare meaning as well as form; a different valid answer need not copy the model.