p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Discord

分之

fēnzhī
particle #42,863

Meanings

  1. 1 (used in fractions, e.g. 三分之一 = one third)
  2. 2 out of; -ths (fraction marker)

Characters

分
fēn
to divide; part; fraction
之
zhī
of (classical particle)
Used in fractions: X 分之 Y means 'Y out of X parts' = Y/X. The denominator comes first!

Examples

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.
百分之八十的人同意了。
Bǎi fēn zhī bāshí de rén tóngyì le.
Eighty percent of people agreed.
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.

Tips

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.

Stroke Order

分 fēn
之 zhī