<blockquote>
<p>Suppose 73% of the population is educated, and <strong>4/7 of the educated is smart</strong>. Suppose further that 2/3 of the uneducated is smart as well. What is the probability that a randomly selected educated person is smart?</p>
<p>假设73%的人口受过教育，而<strong>受过教育的人当中4/7是聪明的</strong>。进一步假设2/3没受过教育的人也是聪明的。随机抽取一个受过教育的人是聪明的概率是多少？</p>
</blockquote>
<p>&quot;(Ratio <em>q</em>) + of + X&quot; can be translated as</p>
<ul>
<li>(在)X(当)中q. &quot;<strong>(在)受过教育的人(当)中4/7</strong>是聪明的&quot;. And &quot;其中4/7是聪明的&quot; sounds more concise – though IMO it can't be applied to this example because it's a little ambiguous.</li>
<li>qX. &quot;<strong>4/7受过教育的人</strong>是聪明的&quot;. Sometimes for the subtle fluency, when X doesn't contain &quot;的&quot;, it would be better to say  &quot;q的X&quot; instead, such as &quot;4/7的农民&quot;, &quot;30%的学生&quot;.</li>
<li>X的q. It sounds a little colloquial and a little awkward for this example because there're two close &quot;的&quot;s: &quot;<strong>受过教育的人的4/7</strong>是聪明的&quot;.</li>
</ul>
<p>(Ratio <em>q</em>) above can be replaced by a percentage &quot;<em>p%</em>&quot; too. Either &quot;(在)受过教育的人(当)中50%是聪明的&quot; or
&quot;(在)受过教育的人(当)中p%是聪明的&quot; (p% as a variable) is fine.</p>
<p>However, if you have to use &quot;ratio q&quot; as a variable, it has to be &quot;比例q&quot; or &quot;比率q&quot;, and a &quot;有&quot; would be necessary: &quot;受过教育的人中<strong>有</strong>比率q是聪明的&quot;. Though maybe not everyone consider it clear enough - &quot;比率q的X&quot; and &quot;X的比率q&quot; patterns are even worse.</p>
<p>PS: I don't see the point of this math problem. If we just randomly select a person within the educated, i.e. P(smart|educated), then, isn't the answer a trivial <code>4/7</code>? Have I missed anything? :/</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T18:48:54.043Z
Sounds like a tricky question, or the "educated" condition in the question is added by mistake. Anyways this answer is spot-on!
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T19:44:31.100Z
Thanks for the answer. However, my difficulty is not in translating the sentence with numbers in it, but in the sentence with the actual "place-holder" ***q*** in it. While **受过教育的人当中4/7是聪明的** sounds fine, **受过教育的人当中 *q* 是聪明的** sounds awkward. Perhaps **受过教育的人当中有比例 *q* 是聪明的** would be slightly better?
Herr K.
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2016-03-22T19:51:24.980Z
Regarding the math, yes, this is a trivial part of a series of non-trivial questions on conditional probabilities.
Herr K.
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2016-03-22T19:57:12.920Z
@HerrK. You're right and you just replied during my editing that "variable ratio q" part :D
Stan
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2016-03-22T20:29:06.993Z
@Stan Thank you for your help! I appreciate it.
Herr K.
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2016-03-22T18:06:45.203Z
2016-03-22T19:52:55.470Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
Stan
<p>"q比例的人口是属于聪明的。" However this translation is less common in spoken language(Chinese), the more common version we would say is quite like your first translation.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T05:47:08.330Z
"百分之 q 的人口" means the ratio = `q%`, but "q比例" (this is not a rigor expression in Chinese either) means the ratio = `q`. **Essentially different.** To convey the exact meaning of the original author's thought, we need to check the context.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T09:05:11.360Z
“q比例的人口是属于聪明的” sounds awkward in Chinese to me.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T04:41:40.347Z
2016-03-22T04:41:40.347Z
kaerutoh
<p>I'm having difficulty translating the following sentence into Chinese:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>A fraction <em>q</em> of the population is smart.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I was tempted to translate this as </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>百分之 <em>q</em> 的人口是聪明的。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>But strictly speaking this is not correct, because <strong>fraction</strong> as a mathematical terminology means <strong>分数</strong> in Chinese (as in <em>a</em> / <em>b</em> for some natural numbers <em>a</em> and <em>b</em>), which is not necessarily a percentage. </p>

<p>Using the literal Chinese translation of <strong>fraction</strong> doesn't read well:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>分数 <em>q</em> 的人口是聪明的。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>I'm hoping to get help on a better translation of the sentence. Thank you!</p>

<hr>

<p><strong>EDIT</strong></p>

<p>From the comments it's clear to me that the English sentence to be translated, taken on its own, may be open to multiple interpretations. I hope the following context will clarify its meaning. </p>

<p>The intended meaning of "<strong>A fraction <em>q</em> of the population is smart</strong>" is that </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The total number of smart people is <em>q</em> * <em>N</em></p>
</blockquote>

<p>given that the population size is <em>N</em>. To put this in full context, the original sentence I am to translate is related to calculating a conditional probability using Bayes' rule:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Suppose <em>p</em>% of the population is educated, and a fraction <em>q</em> of the educated is smart. Suppose further that a fraction <em>r</em> of the uneducated is smart as well. What is the probability that a randomly selected educated person is smart?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Replacing the algebra notations with numbers, the above could have read:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Suppose 73% of the population is educated, and 4/7 of the educated is smart. Suppose further that 2/3 of the uneducated is smart as well. What is the probability that a randomly selected educated person is smart?</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-21T19:43:51.360Z
in analogy with 人口的小部分 would 人口的分数q部分  be possible？
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-21T19:50:48.280Z
@user6065: Thanks. Your suggestion definitely sounds better than the literal translation. It got me thinking perhaps "*q* 部分的人口是聪明的" would be an option as well.
Herr K.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-21T20:05:29.033Z
when feeding "小部分的人口" to jukuu the first 6 results all have 人口的一小部分, if you can say "a/b of the population" then may be you can also leave out 分数 in C
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T01:43:45.043Z
Let's state it rigorously like a scientific paper. What exactly does "a fraction *q* of the population" mean in English? (Provided the population is *N*.) Does it mean "the ratio *q* / *N* of human beings is smart", or "the total number of smart people is *q* * *N*"? The definition of *q* is the crux.
Stan
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T03:56:44.357Z
@Stan is right, the English given here is not good.  Do you want to say "Just 15% of the population is smart"?  Or do you want to say "Just one third of the population is smart"?  You could well say "A fraction of the population is smart" while leaving the fraction indeterminate.  But "A fraction one half of the population is smart" is not good English.
Colin McLarty
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T06:04:17.883Z
"a fraction q of the population" seems to mean "q of the population" where q would be of the form a/b, a, b positive integers, i.e. if there are N people in the population, it means q*N people as in comment #4 above, with a concrete value for q, as comment #5 says, "fraction" is redundant. In a theoretical discussion with q undetermined, "fraction q" would seem to be correct English.
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T06:06:18.517Z
I suspect it's apposition missing comma, i.e. "a fraction, q of the population, is smart" where q should be the ratio not absolute number.
NS.X.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T06:35:25.777Z
if as in E "分数" is omitted (as already happened in comment #2), would 人口的 a／b 部分聪明 be possible? would  人口的分数 a／b 部分聪明 sound as bad in C as in E?
user6065
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T06:51:44.223Z
@Stan: Thanks for raising a good point. Please see my edit to the question.
Herr K.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-22T06:55:42.540Z
@user6065: Thanks very much for your further suggestions. As I just explained in my edit to the question, this is a translation of a math problem, and I would prefer keeping the notation *q* instead of introducing two more notations *a* and *b*.
Herr K.
<translation><terminology>
Translation of "fraction" in a sentence
# Translation of "fraction" in a sentence

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-03-21)

I'm having difficulty translating the following sentence into Chinese:

> A fraction *q* of the population is smart.

I was tempted to translate this as

> 百分之 *q* 的人口是聪明的。

But strictly speaking this is not correct, because **fraction** as a mathematical terminology means **分数** in Chinese (as in *a* / *b* for some natural numbers *a* and *b*), which is not necessarily a percentage.

Using the literal Chinese translation of **fraction** doesn't read well:

> 分数 *q* 的人口是聪明的。

I'm hoping to get help on a better translation of the sentence. Thank you!

---

**EDIT**

From the comments it's clear to me that the English sentence to be translated, taken on its own, may be open to multiple interpretations. I hope the following context will clarify its meaning.

The intended meaning of "**A fraction *q* of the population is smart**" is that

> The total number of smart people is *q* \* *N*

given that the population size is *N*. To put this in full context, the original sentence I am to translate is related to calculating a conditional probability using Bayes' rule:

> Suppose *p*% of the population is educated, and a fraction *q* of the educated is smart. Suppose further that a fraction *r* of the uneducated is smart as well. What is the probability that a randomly selected educated person is smart?

Replacing the algebra notations with numbers, the above could have read:

> Suppose 73% of the population is educated, and 4/7 of the educated is smart. Suppose further that 2/3 of the uneducated is smart as well. What is the probability that a randomly selected educated person is smart?

**Tags:** translation, terminology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: in analogy with 人口的小部分 would 人口的分数q部分  be possible？  
> **username_0**: @username_1: Thanks. Your suggestion definitely sounds better than the literal translation. It got me thinking perhaps "*q* 部分的人口是聪明的" would be an option as well.  
> **username_1**: when feeding "小部分的人口" to jukuu the first 6 results all have 人口的一小部分, if you can say "a/b of the population" then may be you can also leave out 分数 in C  
> **username_2**: Let's state it rigorously like a scientific paper. What exactly does "a fraction *q* of the population" mean in English? (Provided the population is *N*.) Does it mean "the ratio *q* / *N* of human beings is smart", or "the total number of smart people is *q* * *N*"? The definition of *q* is the crux.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 is right, the English given here is not good.  Do you want to say "Just 15% of the population is smart"?  Or do you want to say "Just one third of the population is smart"?  You could well say "A fraction of the population is smart" while leaving the fraction indeterminate.  But "A fraction one half of the population is smart" is not good English.  
> **username_1**: "a fraction q of the population" seems to mean "q of the population" where q would be of the form a/b, a, b positive integers, i.e. if there are N people in the population, it means q*N people as in comment #4 above, with a concrete value for q, as comment #5 says, "fraction" is redundant. In a theoretical discussion with q undetermined, "fraction q" would seem to be correct English.  
> **username_4**: I suspect it's apposition missing comma, i.e. "a fraction, q of the population, is smart" where q should be the ratio not absolute number.  
> **username_1**: if as in E "分数" is omitted (as already happened in comment #2), would 人口的 a／b 部分聪明 be possible? would  人口的分数 a／b 部分聪明 sound as bad in C as in E?  
> **username_0**: @username_2: Thanks for raising a good point. Please see my edit to the question.  
> **username_0**: @username_1: Thanks very much for your further suggestions. As I just explained in my edit to the question, this is a translation of a math problem, and I would prefer keeping the notation *q* instead of introducing two more notations *a* and *b*.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-03-22. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

> Suppose 73% of the population is educated, and **4/7 of the educated is smart**. Suppose further that 2/3 of the uneducated is smart as well. What is the probability that a randomly selected educated person is smart?
>
> 假设73%的人口受过教育，而**受过教育的人当中4/7是聪明的**。进一步假设2/3没受过教育的人也是聪明的。随机抽取一个受过教育的人是聪明的概率是多少？

"(Ratio *q*) + of + X" can be translated as

* (在)X(当)中q. "**(在)受过教育的人(当)中4/7**是聪明的". And "其中4/7是聪明的" sounds more concise – though IMO it can't be applied to this example because it's a little ambiguous.
* qX. "**4/7受过教育的人**是聪明的". Sometimes for the subtle fluency, when X doesn't contain "的", it would be better to say "q的X" instead, such as "4/7的农民", "30%的学生".
* X的q. It sounds a little colloquial and a little awkward for this example because there're two close "的"s: "**受过教育的人的4/7**是聪明的".

(Ratio *q*) above can be replaced by a percentage "*p%*" too. Either "(在)受过教育的人(当)中50%是聪明的" or
"(在)受过教育的人(当)中p%是聪明的" (p% as a variable) is fine.

However, if you have to use "ratio q" as a variable, it has to be "比例q" or "比率q", and a "有" would be necessary: "受过教育的人中**有**比率q是聪明的". Though maybe not everyone consider it clear enough - "比率q的X" and "X的比率q" patterns are even worse.

PS: I don't see the point of this math problem. If we just randomly select a person within the educated, i.e. P(smart|educated), then, isn't the answer a trivial `4/7`? Have I missed anything? :/

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Sounds like a tricky question, or the "educated" condition in the question is added by mistake. Anyways this answer is spot-on!  
> **username_0**: Thanks for the answer. However, my difficulty is not in translating the sentence with numbers in it, but in the sentence with the actual "place-holder" ***q*** in it. While **受过教育的人当中4/7是聪明的** sounds fine, **受过教育的人当中 *q* 是聪明的** sounds awkward. Perhaps **受过教育的人当中有比例 *q* 是聪明的** would be slightly better?  
> **username_0**: Regarding the math, yes, this is a trivial part of a series of non-trivial questions on conditional probabilities.  
> **username_2**: @HerrK. You're right and you just replied during my editing that "variable ratio q" part :D  
> **username_0**: @username_2 Thank you for your help! I appreciate it.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2016-03-22. Score: 0

"q比例的人口是属于聪明的。" However this translation is less common in spoken language(Chinese), the more common version we would say is quite like your first translation.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: "百分之 q 的人口" means the ratio = `q%`, but "q比例" (this is not a rigor expression in Chinese either) means the ratio = `q`. **Essentially different.** To convey the exact meaning of the original author's thought, we need to check the context.  
> **username_4**: “q比例的人口是属于聪明的” sounds awkward in Chinese to me.  

---

