The history of number in percent locutions

Asked Jun 11 '19 at 17:57

Active Jun 12 '19 at 09:01

Viewed 74 times

It seems that

Ten percent of the pie is eaten

is now universally? considered correct. Was there a time in the history of modern English when this was not so? That is, when are would have been preferred?

For the record, I think a reasonable sentence analysis is the following.

is/are : verb
ten percent : subject (plural)
of the pie : modifier of percent, which is subordinate to it

The current practice, I take it, is a contructio ad sensum (synesis), like when one says mathematics is fun, that's good news, or a means to an end. The verb form is determined by the ''logical'' subject (the pie-piece) rather then the grammatical subject (ten percent).

edited Jun 12 '19 at 09:01

asked Jun 11 '19 at 17:57

Toothrot

1,062

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Ten percent of the marbles are green. Ten percent of the orange juice is wasted. – GEdgar Jun 11 '19 at 18:06
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Related: Technicalities about “%”? and Is “89.9%” singular or plural? – Mari-Lou A Jun 11 '19 at 18:08
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The answer to this question is relevant: has vs have on a singular noun that represents a plural idea – Mari-Lou A Jun 11 '19 at 18:12
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"Ten percent of the pie are eaten" is never correct. It's a singular quantity. – Weather Vane Jun 11 '19 at 19:13
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@WeatherVane I agree that is how it is now, but the question is whether that was always the case. Especially if you go back to when "per cent" was two words and "10%" may have been more readily considered equivalent to saying "ten parts in a hundred", making the implied "parts" the (plural) subject. – Hellion Jun 11 '19 at 19:53
Going back in history "a tenth part" was common usage. I can't think of any examples of a plural usage. – Old Brixtonian Jun 12 '19 at 01:15

The history of number in percent locutions

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