Note 130 – Using fractions and percentages in writing

Rules for using fractions and percentages in a sentence

The basic rule is – don’t mix them up in the same sentence.

Example: 25% of my work colleagues have children, but only one out of every three of them have more than one child.

Better: 25% of my work colleagues have children, but only 33% of those people have more than one child.

Just as good: A quarter of my work colleagues have children, but only one third of those people have more than one child.

Rules for hyphenating fractions

In his book The Queen’s English, Bernard C Lamb explains that when a fraction is used as an adjective e.g. the cup is three-quarters full, it should be hyphenated.  If ‘three quarters’ is used as a noun phrase, as in “three quarters of the cup is  full,” the word ‘three quarters’ would not have a hyphen.

That’s it for today. If you have any questions about this blog, please leave me a comment.

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Until tomorrow…

Sandra

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Reference list:

Bernard C. Lamb The Queen’s English (2010), UK