HSK 4 · VERSION 2.0#38
Expressing Fractions with “fēnzhī”
分之
How it works
Fractions in Chinese are formed with the structure:
denominator + 分之 (fēnzhī) + numerator
This is different from English, because Chinese says the larger number first.
The pattern
Denominator + 分之 (fēnzhī) + Numerator
Example sentences
三分之一
one third
五分之二的人同意。
Two fifths of the people agreed.
这个班有四分之三是女生。
Three quarters of this class are girls.
Key point
Students should remember that Chinese fraction order is the opposite of English order.
one third = 三分之一 (sān fēnzhī yī)
not 一分之三