3.5 percent or a 3.5 percent?

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Believer

#232483 Mon, 05 Jun 06 01:11 AM

1. I have two sentences that are in doubt but presuming they are correct, can you tell me why one is be proper to have an article while the other is not?

The interest rate is 3.5 percent.

Unemployment, already a low 3.5 percent, is expected to fall further ...

2. Why is there an article "a" rather than "the" or the absence of any of them?

There is a Garden of Eden somewhere out there.

Believer

Joined on Mon, Jan 2 2006

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julielai

#232486 Mon, 05 Jun 06 01:53 AM

This one does not sound right. Perhaps it should be:

The unemployment rate, already at a low 3.5 percent, is expected to fall further ...

julielai

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Planet earth

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Clive

#232488 Mon, 05 Jun 06 02:08 AM

Hi guys,

1. I have two sentences that are in doubt but presuming they are correct, can you tell me why one is be proper to have an article while the other is not?

The interest rate is 3.5 percent.

Unemployment, already a low 3.5 percent, is expected to fall further ...

I agree with Julie that it should be 'The unemployment rate', but although 'at' is possible, I don't think it is necessary.

The article is used because the speaker is thinking of a variety of possible interest rates. You could say 'The unemployment rate, already 3.5 percent', but the presence of 'low' requires 'a'.

2. Why is there an article "a" rather than "the" or the absence of any of them?

There is a Garden of Eden somewhere out there.

Because the speaker is using 'Garden of Eden' to refer to a whole possible range of places that are like the Garden of Eden.

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

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Canada

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CalifJim

#232500 Mon, 05 Jun 06 04:42 AM

Unemployment is [3.5 percent / at a low level, namely, 3.5 percent / a low 3.5 percent].
Many levels of unemployment are considered low. Current unemployment is at one of these low levels, i.e., at a certain low level.

Similarly,

Unemployment is a [whopping / huge] 6.7 percent. (a particular, certain level considered whopping/huge)

CJ

CalifJim

Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004

California

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"There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche

BW2/3

#232522 Mon, 05 Jun 06 06:40 AM

Clive wrote:

Hi guys,

1. I have two sentences that are in doubt but presuming they are correct, can you tell me why one is be proper to have an article while the other is not?

The interest rate is 3.5 percent.

Unemployment, already a low 3.5 percent, is expected to fall further ...

I agree with Julie that it should be 'The unemployment rate', but although 'at' is possible, I don't think it is necessary.

The article is used because the speaker is thinking of a variety of possible interest rates. You could say 'The unemployment rate, already 3.5 percent', but the presence of 'low' requires 'a'.

Clive, why it is necessary an indefinite article is required before the adjective " low " ?

Thanks

BW2/3

Joined on Sat, Oct 22 2005

Contributing Member (1,283)

Carpe diem!!

Clive

#232528 Mon, 05 Jun 06 07:05 AM

Hi again,

Unemployment, already a low 3.5 percent, is expected to fall further ...

The article is used because the speaker is thinking of a variety of possible interest rates. You could say 'The unemployment rate, already 3.5 percent, but the presence of 'low' requires 'a'.

why it is necessary an indefinite article is required before the adjective " low " ?

There is only one 3.5 percent, but when you start attaching adjectives to it, it sounds like there are different kinds of 3.5 percent, eg a low 3.5 percent, a high 3.5 percent, a surprising 3.5 percent, etc.

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

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Cool Breeze

#232591 Mon, 05 Jun 06 10:55 AM

Hi all

I agree with the previous posters. Using the articles, especially the indefinite articles a and an, is perhaps the most difficult aspect of English grammar. Although the grammar is mostly so simple that it couldn't be made much simpler even if English were an artificial language, there are so many exceptions to the use of the articles that the foreign learner is constantly in for surprises.

A and an are often used in connection with adjectival attributes with nouns that take no article at all or take the definite article (the). Some examples:

I had lunch.                                 But:   I had a good lunch.
Birds are flying in the sky.                  Birds are flying in a blue sky.
We met Tom Brown yesterday.         We met a sad Tom Brown yesterday.

Cool Breeze

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006

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Senior Member (2,952)

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Believer

#233015 Tue, 06 Jun 06 03:44 PM

Thank you.

Here in the original sentence, "The interest rate is 3.5 percent," I presume that the phrase "3.5 percent" is a complement for the subject "the interest rate." The word percent is a countable noun and normally, one needs to have an article in front of it but here there is no article. Is the number "3.5" serving as a sort of article? Or is it that no article is necessary because it is describing/explaining the subject like these:

He is Janpanese. He is male.

So, as to your sentence, "Unemployment (rate) is a 6.7 percent.", how would you categorize the elements involved in grammatical terms, especially the part "a 6.7 percent"?

Believer

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Clive

#233049 Tue, 06 Jun 06 06:09 PM

Hi,

The word percent is a countable noun Not really. 'Per cent' actually consists of two Latin words, which mean 'per hundred'. When you say 3 percent, you are saying '3 per 100.' Thus, articles are not really required or involved.

In the phrase 'a low 3.5 percent', the use of the adjective signals that you are thinking of '3.5 percent' as a kind of logical unit, and for that reason you need an article. Another example is when you are talking about your homework and you could say 'I only got a 60 percent. I get a lot of 60 percents.'

Best wishes, Clive

Clive

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