"What does ninety percent mean?"

Translation: Cosa significa novanta per cento?

[cloclo15]

Why does this sentence not require the article il when on another occasion it had one?

[wiplala]

good question, was it marked wrong when you used it?

[cloclo15]

Yep!

[wiplala]

Now let's hope they will change it.

[cloclo15]

I didn't report it because I wasn't sure if it was wrong

[wiplala]

well, let's report it the next time we see it, because in other sentences I think I
saw it written as: "il novanta percento". I'll pay atttention to that to make sure.
:)

[01nick1988]

I reported it because I made the same translation!

[rayner91]

Was the last occasion not speaking about the number ninety "il numero novanta"? Where as this is speaking about the percentage so you wouldnt say "the ninety percent"... Maybe

[Mik1212]

if "percento" is marked as "almost correct", why does the prompt word show "percento" when one arrows over "percent" to make sure if isn't "per cento". yea, I changed it from what is considered correct to the almost correct option due to that prompt...

[maxspeak]

"Cosa significa il novanta per cento" is not a correct translation?

[rayner91]

Surely its because you wouldnt speak of a percentage with a "the" prefix like you would a number. I.e - "The number Ninety Il numero novanta" vs "Ninety percent novanta per cento". " The ninety percent" would only make sense in a specific sentence, such as speaking about a group which i dont think this is referring to.

[dmeloche1]

I just tried the same thing 6/14/14 and was marked wrong :(

[Lavmarx]

So, I was marked wrong for using "percento" instead of "per cento", the dropdown list has "percento" and it was accepted in other sentences, which one is wrong?

[KarenColle]

6/15/14. I put: Cosa significa novanta percento. I was warned, not in a heart-less way, that it was rather "per cento (2 words)", even tho' the drop down hover hint says "percento (one word)". WordReference seems to say that as an adverb, it's always two words ( per cento)...and as a noun (singular, masculine..meaning "percentage") it's one word, percento. I have no idea if I have interpreted this correctly, as I'm just learning the language too, and how to use the resources available to us. HTH.

[Lavmarx]

I think I understand, thanks!

[dnovinc]

Is it wrong to translate this as: "Cosa novanta per cento vuole dire?" ?

[Teaaaa]

Mi sembra ok. "Che cosa vuole dire" e "che cosa significa" hanno lo stesso significato... o vogliono dire la stessa cosa. :Đ

[LINBUR0100]

No, because in your example, it is asking more like "you mean to say 90% of them don't use our product" whereas in the original sentence it is the 90 percent that is "signifying" something. I.e: "What does 90 percent mean, with regards to market penetration?" The difference is whether the 90 percent is the subject or the object of the sentence, but they are conveyed in very different ways.