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Phoenix
What is the difference between one-third and one third?
In the following sentence,for example, which part is incorrect?
About one-third of the world's population uses chopsticks.
Oct 31, 2015 2:14 PM
Answers · 4
Although both can be used, I think "one third" is less clear than "one-third", which links the two words together and makes it instantly clear that this is a fraction.
Instead of one-third, try replacing it with another fraction, say 8/19 and see how it looks.
Here's an example where the hyphen is dropped (determiner) :-
"Billy cut the pizza into three equal pieces. He gave one third to Amy, another third to Charlie, and the last third to Dave."
October 31, 2015
Written as "one-third", it is an adjective: I have a one-third interest in the company, meaning I own 33.33% of the company.
Written as "one third" it is a noun: one third of the people agree.
In your example it is a noun, so you write it without the hyphen: "one third"
October 31, 2015
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Phoenix
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English, German
Learning Language
English, German
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