Grammar Tip – Verb Agreement With Per Cent

Louise’s question: “After a % sign should the verb be singular or plural? For example, is it 95% of the population live or lives less than 10 minutes away?”

BizWritingTip response: First, using the % sign in a narrative sentence is considered informal wtiting, e.g., emails. And you would use it in charts and tables. Spelling out the word is formal and more common for letters and reports.

Second, the % sign and the word per cent are exceptions to the standard subject and verb agreement rules. Whether you use the sign or the word, the verb agrees with the “of phrase” that follows.

Examples (Correct)
Ninety-five per cent of the population lives less than 10 miles away. (Population is a collective noun and takes a singular verb.)
Twenty percent of the voters are not happy with the candidate. (The verb are agrees with the plural noun voters.)
Approximately 30% of the mailing list is out of date. (The noun list takes the singular verb is.)

Note:

• Numbers starting a sentence should be written out.
• Per cent can be written as one word or two.