80 percent

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Angliholic

#357434 Sun, 29 Apr 07 02:33 PM

Female teachers represent 80 percent of the school staff.

Why not 80 percents since it's plural? Thanks.

Angliholic

Joined on Wed, Feb 14 2007

SomewhereinFormosa

Veteran Member (5,501)

Without true love, life is meaningless and worthless since our physical world is nothing but a dream. ~~Angliholic~~簡瑞達

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Yankee

#357438 Sun, 29 Apr 07 02:39 PM

"80 percent" means "80 in every one hundred".

Yankee

Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006

Connecticut, USA

Senior Member (4,237)

Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

Yoong Liat

#357455 Sun, 29 Apr 07 03:17 PM

Angliholic wrote:
Female teachers represent 80 percent of the school staff.

Why not 80 percents since it's plural? Thanks.

There is no such word as 'percents'.

Yoong Liat

Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006

Singapore

Veteran Member (6,083)

Yoong Liat

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Angliholic

#357460 Sun, 29 Apr 07 03:26 PM

Yankee wrote:
"80 percent" means "80 in every one hundred".

Thanks, Yankee.

But when something is over two, it's plural, not to mention 80. I still don't get it.

Angliholic

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Yankee

#357469 Sun, 29 Apr 07 03:40 PM

Angliholic wrote:
Yankee wrote:
"80 percent" means "80 in every one hundred".

Thanks, Yankee.

But when something is over two, it's plural, not to mention 80. I still don't get it.

The 'cent' part of the word refers to 'one hundred'. You are not referring to 80 things among hundreds of things.
80% refers to eighty (things) per each one hundred (things). The things are plural, but the percentage of things is a single quantity.

One possible way to use percent as a plural might be this:
The students learned how to calculate and use percents in math class.

Yankee

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Angliholic

#357474 Sun, 29 Apr 07 03:50 PM

Yankee wrote:
Angliholic wrote:

Yankee wrote:
"80 percent" means "80 in every one hundred".

Thanks, Yankee.

But when something is over two, it's plural, not to mention 80. I still don't get it.

The 'cent' part of the word refers to 'one hundred'. You are not referring to 80 things among hundreds of things.
80% refers to eighty (things) per each one hundred (things). The things are plural, but the percentage of things is a single quantity. Now, this makes perfect sense to me.

One possible way to use percent as a plural might be this:
The students learned how to calculate and use percents in math class.

Thanks, Yankee.

Angliholic

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Yoong Liat

#357485 Sun, 29 Apr 07 04:06 PM

Hi Amy
The students learned how to calculate and use percents in math class.

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary and the Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners, 'percent' is both the singular and plural form. Is 'percents' used in your sentence AmE?

Yoong Liat

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Yankee

#357495 Sun, 29 Apr 07 04:24 PM

Hi Yoong Liat

The word 'percents' is not used in reference to a quantity per hundred. I attempted to give you a possible usage in which the meaning basically is "various or all sorts of different quantities per hundred".

Oddly enough, the M-W Dictionary has an entry for "percents" with a notation that it is a British usage:
2 percents plural, British : securities bearing a specified rate of interest

Yankee

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Kooyeen

#357505 Sun, 29 Apr 07 04:34 PM

Amy wrote:

The students learned how to calculate and use percents in math class.

Hi, I don't like that plural too, but I think it might be used sometimes... I think I would say "...calculate and use percentages in math class."
Just my quick opinion Smile [:)]

Kooyeen

Joined on Thu, Dec 22 2005

Italy

Senior Member (4,033)

If you don't have a sense of humor already, it's about time you buy one.

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