Expression of the percentages . A percentage is the expression of a percentage, that is, of the number of units considered in relation to a total of one hundred. To express the percentages, the phrase percent or the symbol % must always be used , corresponding to this phrase, separated by a space from the figure it accompanies.
Summary
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- 1 Voice-overs per hundred and percent
- 2 Use of% symbol
- 3 Use of words or figures in writing percentages
- 4 Coordination of written percentages with figures
- 5 The amount per thousand
- 6 Errors in writing the percentages
- 7 Sources
Voice-overs per hundred and percent
In the expression of the percentages, the phrase percent is used. Example: Ninety percent of students chose college majors; It is not considered correct, in these cases, to use the apocopada form hundred: ninety percent. The use of the phrase per hundred is only considered correct when the percentage expresses the whole. In this case, the expressions one hundred percent (preferred in America ), one hundred percent and one hundred percent (preferred in Spain ) are equally valid .
The phrase percent can be used both when the percentage is expressed in figures and in words , it must always be written in two words, the writing in a single word is valid only for the masculine noun percent (percentage). Example: The growth percentage was higher in the male population.
Use of% symbol
While the phrase percent can accompany both figures and words, the symbol % should only be used when the percentage is written with figures: 13% of respondents; consequently, it is not correct to use the% symbol if the percentage is expressed in words. In any case, it is best to write the percentages entirely in words (thirteen percent) or with figures accompanied by the symbol, leaving a space between the symbol and the figure. The% symbol is always read percent, except if it appears in the expression 100%, in which case it can also be read one hundred percent and one hundred percent.
Use of words or figures in writing percentages
When the percentage corresponds to a number less than ten, it can be written in both figures and words. Example: 8% of the students never go to the library or Eight percent of the students never go to the library. Writing with figures is more frequent in texts of a scientific or technical nature.
Percentages greater than ten are written almost exclusively with figures, both because they correspond to numbers that are mostly expressed with more than one word and because they are the easiest and fastest to interpret figures. Writing percentages greater than ten entirely in words is only normal in documents of a financial, administrative or legal nature (bank checks, bills of exchange, contracts, etc.) in which the expression in words must accompany the figure to avoid all possible confusion or manipulation. Example: The debtor declares that he owns 47% (forty-seven percent) of the capital stock.
Since the numbers made up of a whole part and a decimal part are written with figures, this is how decimal percentages must also be written, even if they correspond to numbers less than ten. Example: 2.3% of the budget was not executed. But they can also be written with words in financial, administrative or legal texts in order to avoid mistakes or manipulations. Example: Quota: Zero integer seven hundred thousandths percent.
Coordinating written percentages with figures
When several coordinated percentages appear in a statement, the% symbol is usually placed after the last figure. Example: Between 85 and 95%. However, in scientific-technical documents it is preferable to repeat the symbol after each of the figures to avoid any possibility of confusion: Between 85% and 95%.
In hyphenated percentage ranges, it is best to use a single symbol placed at the end: 20-25%.
The amount per thousand
In certain types of texts, especially those of a statistical or financial nature, so many per thousand are often expressed, instead of so many per cent. A per thousand indicates the number of units considered in relation to a total of thousand. In these cases, after the expression of the specific number in question (which can be written in words or with figures), the phrase per thousand or, more rarely, per thousand is used: Example: Approximately two per thousand do not know how to make a square root. When the percentage per thousand is written with figures, it is usual to use the symbol ‰: Approximately 2 ‰ do not know how to make a square root.
Although the usual way of referring to this type of expression is through the substantive phrase so many per thousand or so many per thousand, in some countries of America the noun per thousand is also used, created by analogy with percentage.
Errors in writing the percentages
- Separate the elements that make up the expression of the percentages on different lines, this is not correct if they are written with figures or words.
- Do not leave the space between the number and the% sign.
- Use the% sign when the percentage is expressed in words.
- The apocope of the numeral one and its compounds is incorrect when they are not prepended to a noun; therefore, thirty-one percent should not be said, but thirty-one percent.
