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Fractions use ordinal numbers, per cent is
pour cent, and the verbs of change (augmenter,baisser) takedeandàin ways that completely alter the meaning.
The table
| Fraction | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 | un demi la moitié | /œ̃ də.mi/ · /mwa.tje/ |
| 1/3 | un tiers | /œ̃ tjɛʁ/ |
| 1/4 | un quart | /œ̃ kaʁ/ |
| 2/3 | deux tiers | /dø tjɛʁ/ |
| 3/4 | trois quarts | /tʁwa kaʁ/ |
| 1/5 | un cinquième | /œ̃ sɛ̃.kjɛm/ |
| 1/10 | un dixième | /œ̃ di.zjɛm/ |
| 1/100 | un centième | /œ̃ sɑ̃.sjɛm/ |
Only the first three have their own words:
demi·tiers·quart. From a fifth onwards it is just the ordinal —un cinquième·un sixième.English works identically: half, third, quarter are special, and everything from fifth onwards is the plain ordinal.
Percentages
| French | Pronunciation | |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | vingt pour cent | /vɛ̃ puʁ sɑ̃/ |
| 50% | cinquante pour cent | /sɛ̃.kɑ̃t puʁ sɑ̃/ |
| 0.5% | zéro virgule cinq pour cent | /ze.ʁo viʁ.ɡyl sɛ̃k puʁ sɑ̃/ |
| 100% | cent pour cent | /sɑ̃ puʁ sɑ̃/ |
How to write it: 20 % — with a space before the sign, unlike English.
Is the verb singular or plural with a percentage
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
20 % des étudiants sont venus. | with a plural noun → plural verb | /vɛ̃ puʁ.sɑ̃ de.z‿e.ty.djɑ̃ sɔ̃ və.ny/ |
20 % de la classe est venue. | with a singular noun → singular verb | /vɛ̃ puʁ.sɑ̃ də la klas ɛ və.ny/ |
The verb agrees with the noun after de, not with the number.
English does the same — "20% of the students are", "20% of the class is" — so no adjustment is needed.
la moitié and la plupart — the same rule
| Pronunciation | ||
|---|---|---|
La moitié des étudiants sont partis. | plural | /la mwa.tje de.z‿e.ty.djɑ̃ sɔ̃ paʁ.ti/ |
La plupart des gens pensent que… | plural | /la ply.paʁ de ʒɑ̃ pɑ̃s kə/ |
La majorité des votes a été… | singular or plural, both accepted | /la ma.ʒo.ʁi.te de votz a e.te/ |
Verbs of change — and that de and à
This table earns marks directly in the writing section:
| Verb | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
augmenter | /oɡ.mɑ̃.te/ | to rise |
baisser diminuer | /bɛ.se/ · /di.mi.ny.e/ | to fall |
doubler | /du.ble/ | to double |
tripler | /tʁi.ple/ | to triple |
atteindre | /a.tɛ̃dʁ/ | to reach |
passer de … à … | /pa.se də a/ | to go from … to … |
rester stable | /ʁɛs.te stabl/ | to remain stable |
varier | /va.ʁje/ | to fluctuate |
And two prepositions that change the meaning:
| Structure | Meaning | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
augmenter de 10 % | rose by 10% — the size of the change | /oɡ.mɑ̃.te də di puʁ.sɑ̃/ |
augmenter à 10 % | rose to 10% — the final figure | /oɡ.mɑ̃.te a di puʁ.sɑ̃/ |
passer de 20 à 30 | went from 20 to 30 | /pa.se də vɛ̃.t‿a tʁɑ̃t/ |
English marks this with "by" and "to" — "rose by 10%" versus "rose to 10%" — so the concept is familiar.
deis "by";àis "to".
The distinction is real: if something goes from 20% to 30%, that is
augmenter de 10 points, notde 10 %. In statistical writing, points is used for a percentage of a percentage — exactly as in English.
Describing a chart — the vocabulary you need
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
le graphique | /ɡʁa.fik/ | chart, graph |
le tableau | /ta.blo/ | table |
la courbe | /kuʁb/ | curve |
l'axe | /aks/ | axis |
la hausse | /os/ | rise |
la baisse | /bɛs/ | fall |
le pic | /pik/ | peak |
la moyenne | /mwa.jɛn/ | average |
la tendance | /tɑ̃.dɑ̃s/ | trend |
selon | /sə.lɔ̃/ | according to |
d'après | /da.pʁɛ/ | according to |
par rapport à | /paʁ ʁa.pɔʁ a/ | compared with |
environ à peu près | /ɑ̃.vi.ʁɔ̃/ · /a pø pʁɛ/ | about, roughly |
plus de | /ply də/ | more than |
moins de | /mwɛ̃ də/ | fewer than |
Ready-made statistical phrases
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
Selon cette étude, … | /sə.lɔ̃ sɛt e.tyd/ | according to this study |
D'après le graphique, … | /da.pʁɛ lə ɡʁa.fik/ | according to the chart |
Le nombre de … a augmenté de 10 %. | /lə nɔ̃bʁ də a oɡ.mɑ̃.te də di puʁ.sɑ̃/ | the number of … rose by 10% |
On constate une hausse de … | /ɔ̃ kɔ̃s.tat yn os də/ | there is an increase in |
La majorité des personnes interrogées … | /la ma.ʒo.ʁi.te de pɛʁ.sɔnz ɛ̃.tɛ.ʁo.ʒe/ | most respondents |
Un sur trois … | /œ̃ syʁ tʁwa/ | one in three |
Deux fois plus de … | /dø fwa ply də/ | twice as many |
par rapport à l'année dernière | /paʁ ʁa.pɔʁ a la.ne dɛʁ.njɛʁ/ | compared with last year |
un sur troisis very common:Un Français sur deux …— one in two French people. English uses "in" and French usessur.
Examples
| English | French | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| Twenty per cent of the students. | Vingt pour cent des étudiants. | /vɛ̃ puʁ sɑ̃ de.z‿e.ty.djɑ̃/ |
| Half the class. | La moitié de la classe. | /la mwa.tje də la klas/ |
| Two thirds. | Deux tiers. | /dø tjɛʁ/ |
| Three quarters. | Trois quarts. | /tʁwa kaʁ/ |
| It rose by ten per cent. | Ça a augmenté de dix pour cent. | /sa a oɡ.mɑ̃.te də di puʁ sɑ̃/ |
| It went from twenty to thirty. | C'est passé de vingt à trente. | /sɛ pa.se də vɛ̃.t‿a tʁɑ̃t/ |
| According to this chart. | D'après ce graphique. | /da.pʁɛ sə ɡʁa.fik/ |
| Compared with last year. | Par rapport à l'année dernière. | /paʁ ʁa.pɔʁ a la.ne dɛʁ.njɛʁ/ |
| One person in three. | Une personne sur trois. | /yn pɛʁ.sɔn syʁ tʁwa/ |
| The number fell. | Le nombre a baissé. | /lə nɔ̃bʁ a bɛ.se/ |
Common mistakes
| ❌ | ✅ | Why |
|---|---|---|
20% with no space | 20 % | French puts a space in |
pourcent | pour cent | It is two words |
augmenter à 10 % for growth | augmenter de 10 % | de is the size of the change |
un troisième for 1/3 | un tiers | A third has its own word |
20 % des gens est venu | … sont venus | The verb agrees with the noun after de |
une personne de trois | une personne sur trois | Ratios take sur |
Where tiers and quart came from
three fractions that predate the number system
demi, tiers and quart all come straight from Latin — dimidius · tertius · quartus — the Latin ordinals, unchanged.
Why only these three? Because before modern mathematics, people dealt in practice with only three fractions: a half, a third, a quarter. In trade, in land, in inheritance. Larger fractions were not needed.
When they later became necessary, the language applied the general rule and produced un cinquième — the ordinal -ième.
Their traces show up elsewhere:
| Word | Origin | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
le Tiers-Monde | the Third World | /lə tjɛʁ.mɔ̃d/ |
un quartier | a district — originally "a quarter of a town" | /œ̃ kaʁ.tje/ |
une demi-heure | half an hour | /yn də.mjœʁ/ |
un quart d'heure | a quarter of an hour | /œ̃ kaʁ dœʁ/ |
English did precisely the same thing and stopped at the same point. Half, third and quarter are the only English fractions with their own words; fifth, sixth, tenth are plain ordinals. And English also kept "quarter" for a district and "a quarter of an hour" for the time.
Two unrelated developments, the same three exceptions — because the practical needs were the same everywhere.