Episode 9

[Standardized English exams]

Percentages featured the previous episode, but some more concepts about percentages have to be introduced in this one.

Here, let me introduce the word “digit” (位數).  As its Chinese meaning suggests, you may know that, say, “888” contains 3 digits.

When it comes to the use of “digit” to describe percentages such as inflation 💸, unemployment rates 👨‍🔧, interest rates 💰, or a certain proportion, you may use “digit” in the form of adjectives like the following:

🔵   “single-digit”: between 0% to 9%

🔴   “double-digit”: between 10% to 99%

🟢   “triple-digit”: between 100% to 999%

Then, you may describe a certain percentage like “a single-digit crime rate” and “a double-digit unemployment rate”, or any increase or decrease like “a double-digit gain/loss”, “The unemployment rate dropped to a single-digit level” 📉 (下降至個位數(百分比)的水平) and even “The price of gold recorded a triple-digit growth during wartime.” 📈 (錄得三位數(百分比)的增長)  Please notice that these adjectives are attributive, i.e. they can be placed only before nouns.

“digit”, as you know, is originally a noun, but when this word is used together with “single”, “double” or “triple”, it has to be in the plural form.  For example:

🔵   The unemployment rate finally hit single digits after months of economic depression.

🔴   It is very rare to see the interest rate in double digits.

Two final notes:

1️⃣  All the above examples are concerned with percentages.  However, non-percentage numbers can also be described with the word “digit”, e.g. “Edward earns a six-digit monthly salary”, which means Edward earned at least $100,000 a month, or “Our team won the game by single digits.”, which means our team was just less than 10 points higher than the second-best team.  Please be noted that it usually refers to percentage changes when this word describes increases or decreases.

2️⃣  “digit” is commonly seen in American English 🗽 while “figure” is in British English.  The usage of the latter is the same as what was introduced above, such as “a single-figure crime rate” and “a reduction in double figures”.