# Phần: fractions and percentages in Vietnamese (A2)

> Fractions are read top number first, then phần (part), then the bottom number: một phần ba is a third, hai phần ba two thirds, ba phần tư three quarters.

Source: https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/fractions-percent/ · Updated 2026-10-17

**fractions and percentages**

Pattern: `[n] + phần + [n] · [number] + phần trăm · [n] + phẩy + [n]`

Level: A2 (our estimate) · Register: everyday

Typed without accents: phan, phan tram, phay

Fractions are read top number first, then *phần* (part), then the bottom number: *một phần ba* is a third, *hai phần ba* two thirds, *ba phần tư* three quarters. For quarters, the bottom number is usually *tư*, not *bốn*: *một phần tư*. For a half, people say *một nửa*.

Percent is the number plus *phần trăm*, "parts of a hundred": *mười phần trăm*, *năm mươi phần trăm*. You'll see it on every sale sign: *Giảm 30%* is read *giảm ba mươi phần trăm*, thirty percent off.

For decimals, Vietnamese writes a comma and reads it *phẩy*: 2,5 is *hai phẩy năm*, and 0,5 is *không phẩy năm*. A dot separates thousands, so 1.500 is fifteen hundred. School marks are out of ten and often have a decimal: *Con được tám phẩy năm.* I got 8.5.

With measurements, speech often skips *phẩy* and puts the unit where the comma would be: someone 1,7 m tall is *một mét bảy*. For "and a half", use *rưỡi*: *một ký rưỡi*, a kilo and a half.

## Examples

- Hôm nay giảm giá ba mươi phần trăm. — It's thirty percent off today.
- Hai phần ba lớp em là con gái. — Two thirds of my class are girls.
- Em chỉ ăn một phần tư cái bánh. — I only ate a quarter of the cake.
- Con được tám phẩy năm môn toán. — I got 8.5 in maths.
- Saigon: Ảnh cao một mét bảy. | Hà Nội: Anh ấy cao một mét bảy. — He's 1.70 metres tall.

## Words in this pattern

- [phần](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/phan-part/#s_phan_part): part
- [phần trăm](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/words/phan-tram/#s_phan_tram): percent

## Compare

- [Half and … and a half: nửa, rưỡi, rưởi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nua-ruoi-half/): half

Previous in Things, counting and numbers: [Every, all: mọi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/moi-every/)
Next in Things, counting and numbers: [Half and … and a half: nửa, rưỡi, rưởi](https://vietnamesebuddy.com/grammar/nua-ruoi-half/)

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