Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

Proofreading Service - Pain in the English
Proofreading Service - Pain in the English

Your Pain Is Our Pleasure

24-Hour Proofreading Service—We proofread your Google Docs or Microsoft Word files. We hate grammatical errors with a passion. Learn More

How do I write out .25% ?

How do I write out .25%

Submit Your Comment

or fill in the name and email fields below:

Comments

Well, I think you could say "a quarter of a percent", but this does not address the fundamental problem of your question. For instance, what if the number is ".24%"?

Dyske Mar-03-2010

7 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

awww, dyske beat me to it. But in the case of .24% I think you would just have to use "twenty-four hundredths of a percent" which, while unwieldy, says what you want it to say.

Emily1 Mar-03-2010

5 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

Coming from a science/engineering background, I think that it's very clear if you write it out "point twenty-five percent."

justin2 Mar-04-2010

13 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

If I were reading it out loud and wanted to be literal, I'd probably say "point two five percent". Actually, I'd expect to see it as 0.25% with a leading zero, and read it accordingly. If I were referring to the quantity, not actually reading it aloud, I'd probably say "a quarter of a percent", especially in casual speech. It also depends on the context. Somewhere on this site there's a lengthy discussion on this. By the way, I think this is one of those questions with many correct answers.

porsche Mar-04-2010

8 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

Let me give you an example that might clarify, not about percents, but illustrates the same idea. If someone asked you what the value of pi is, 3.14159..., you'd say "three point one four one five nine...." No one in there right mind would say "three and fourteen thousand one hundred and fifty nine, one-hundred-thousandths...approximately." Yes, I realize this isn't exactly the same thing, but you'd certainly never be wrong by just reading or writing out the digits (unless there were some legal principle or organizationally-required style manual involved).

porsche Mar-04-2010

6 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

Perhaps this is a case where one needs the context to answer your question properly.

In a novel, I would prefer dyke's solution, or "a quarter per cent", and would not be troubled if the precise number was 0.24%. Rounding up would be fine in that context. But in a scientific or academic text, I would go for "point twenty five per cent".

(Without looking, I'm guessing that the "percent / per cent" discussion is somewhere on this site, to which I am a happy newcomer. As you will have gathered, I lean towards "per cent".)

David5 Mar-05-2010

1 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

I beg your pardon, "dyske", not "dyke".

David5 Mar-05-2010

3 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

There are a number of ways to do it. I use 0.25 percent (adding the zero for clarity in case the . might be missed. In engineering it'a always done this way.) In any case (except in math proplems or numerical accounting) the % must be spelled out.

Steve1 Mar-08-2010

2 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

While I just posted something similar in a related topic, I'd like to ask the same thing in reverse:

How would you write “point two five percent” using only arabic numerals and symbols?

Answer: .25%

How would you write “a quarter of a percent” using only arabic numerals and symbols?

Answer: 1/4%

Kinda makes you think, doesn’t it?

porsche Mar-08-2010

3 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

zero point twenty five
zero point twenty four

kh88888 Mar-09-2010

1 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

If you have to write it out formally, it reads like this: "twenty five hundredths of a percent."

Britt Apr-01-2010

4 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

If you require the words themselves, as opposed to the numerals, I would be much more in favor of "point two five," than of "point twenty-five." From a stylistic perspective, it's more concise, and from a mathematical perspective, "point two five" sounds more correct. After all, .25 implies nothing like 25 because the 2 is in the tenths place, not the tens. Twenty-five just sounds wrong. Now, "twenty-five hundredths," while correct, should immediately be dismissed as too unwieldy in all but the most formal writing.

steal_this_email_address May-19-2010

2 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

"[zero] point two five percent".

It's wrong to say "[zero] point twenty five percent", since it has nothing to with the number 25.

bubbha Sep-26-2010

3 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

In "normal" English, if you will, you would replace that with something else. Like, a very small percentage, or less than a percent/percentage. I say the decimal system is strictly mathematical, and you should avoid it. If not, then you ARE entering into the world of math, in which you have to start using '.' as if it was a symbol. The proper word for '.' in the decimal system is actually 'decimal', and I've heard people say that.. but never in writing. If it's a type of writing that shouldn't be having the decimal symbol, then don't use it. Convert it. And then round it if it's too ridiculous. If you can't round it and the exact number is necessary, then it's obviously not that type of writing and you can go ahead and just the symbol for decimal, '.'.

dbfreak Nov-17-2010

1 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

I'd say (nought) point two five percent. "Nought" is probably a British thing.

Regarding "point twenty-five", I'm not sure it's wrong (as a couple of you have said). I think it's just the American way of saying it. True, 0.25 has nothing to do with the number 25, but it doesn't have anything to do with the numbers 2 and 5 either.

tasman Nov-17-2010

1 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

The answer is: "a quarter of a percent."

The problem is that only the small percentage of the population that understand percentages understands you. Say "nearly none" or "almost no," depending on circumstances.

You will get away with it .25% of the time. (Just a guess.)

dogreed Nov-18-2010

1 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

I'd say [zero] point two five rather than [zero] point twenty five

it's there's no relation between .25 with 25 or 2 and 5 but still
If you said zero point three and zero point twenty five sounds like the twenty five things is bigger then three
Therefore for decimal if we're not read it as a fraction we have to spell the number behind the decimal one by one

yulius Mar-16-2011

1 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

It's wrong to say "[zero] point twenty five percent", since it has nothing to with the number 25. www.newlechenie.ru/news-english/complications-of-diabetes/

Bob3 Oct-04-2011

1 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

25% equals 0.25. If they mean quarter percent then spell it "quarter percent" or "one-fourth percent." Not sure how to transcribe 0.25% in which both the decimal and percent sign are redundant, as only one is necessary if of course they mean 1/4 percent or 25% if unless they do mean "one-fourth of one percent" which would be rather uncommon.

Teresa Dec-15-2011

1 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

In a formal legal document I would write: TWENTY-FIVE HUNDREDTHS (0.25%) PERCENT

Chinook Apr-06-2012

2 votes   Permalink   Report Abuse

like

Rer Sep-06-2021

0 vote   Permalink   Report Abuse

Do you have a question? Submit your question here