"Despidieron el 23% del personal!"

Question

Significa : "23% of the crew was let go."

Es esto caso, me imagino que se usa "el" antes de los porcentajes?

Y también, ¿qué significa la locución "por ciento"?¿ "A portion?

Gracias,

Tim

Answer 1

I'd say: al 23% (por ciento) del personal. Despedir a is used with people. In this case a + el becomes al.

With percentages, you can say:

El 10% de la población.

Un 25% de los estudiantes.

So, the answer to your question is that percentages in Spanish (in most cases) need to be preceded by an article (definite or indefinite). That is why it was used in your example.

Por ciento means percentage.

Exceptions:

25% del alumnado llega tarde a clase. (A very general statement and not verifiable).

100% de los maestros se sumaron al paro (same as above).

Gracias - gsdfsggs, Nov 13, 2012

Answer 2

Subsidiary question - aimed at Franco.

Memory resonates with an alternative article for this statement. That is "despidieron a unos 23% de la tripulación". Is the indefinite article usable, correct or not here? I'm convinced I've read this sentence before, or one very like it but using "unos".

"Tripulación" is just a grace note, popped in to add a little more interest. It isn't intended as a necessary change.

I'd say either: "despidieron a un 23% de la tripulación" (exactly 23%) or "despidieron a unos 23 tripulantes" (not percentage, but the real number is around 23). - Hokuten, Nov 13, 2012