占…的比例 / 占…的百分之…【zhàn … de bǐlì / zhàn … de bǎi fēn zhī …】

占 gives the share a part takes up of a whole. The part is the subject, the whole follows 占, and the figure ends the sentence: a percentage, a fraction, or a word like 一半 or 多数.

A percentage is 百分之 + number, whole before part, so 60% reads 百分之六十. In figures it is written 60%. A fraction works the same way: 三分之一 is a third.

所占的比例

When the share itself is the topic, 占 moves inside a modifier – 所占的比例 or 所占的比重, "the share taken up" – and the figure follows 为 or 达到, or the sentence describes how the share is changing.

Mistakes

English "60% of the staff" tempts learners to put the figure before the whole. With 占, the whole comes first and the figure last, joined by 的.

• × 女性占百分之六十的员工 → 女性占员工的百分之六十
• × 女性占员工总数是百分之六十 → 女性占员工总数的百分之六十