分之

fēnzhī

particle HSK 4 #42,863

Meanings

Used in fractions: X 分之 Y means 'Y out of X parts' = Y/X. The denominator comes first.

HSK 1

三分之一的学生是女生。

Sān fēn zhī yī de xuéshēng shì nǚshēng.

One third of the students are female.

HSK 2

他只喝了四分之一杯水。

Tā zhǐ hē le sì fēn zhī yī bēi shuǐ.

He only drank a quarter of a glass of water.

HSK 3

百分之八十的人同意了。

Bǎi fēn zhī bāshí de rén tóngyì le.

Eighty percent of people agreed.

grammar

Chinese fractions are reversed from English: denominator + 分之 + numerator. So 三分之二 (3 parts, of which 2) = two-thirds. 百分之 means 'percent'.

memory

Think of it as 'out of X parts, take Y': 三分之一 = 'out of 3 parts, take 1' = one third.

分 fēn

之 zhī