To express a fraction of 3 out of 4, how and when would you use three quarters, and when would you use three fourths?
To me, three quarters is what I would have used all the time — but I'm not a native English speaker, so I'm not sure. I did come across three fourths, but wasn't sure if that's something used in certain geographies and/or fields of expertise, or whether that's just a slightly too literal translation of another non-native speaker.
Are there certain walks of life, certain fields of expertise that would use three fourths instead? Or is this a question of geography (e.g. used in New Zealand, but not elsewhere)?
Best Answer
I did the obligatory Ngram, and found two things:
I then perused through some of the results of a book search, and I found instances of three-fourths in a wide array of contexts, such as:
In short, I couldn't figure out any rule where three-fourths would be considered an inappropriate substitute for three-quarters; it seems usable whether we are talking about a fraction of a sample size, a quorum, a completion rate, or how much pizza is left in the box.