The Percent Translator

Anything with 'percent,' 'percentage,' '% more than,' '% less than,' or 'increased by X%.'

Confusing 'X is 20% more than Y' (X = 1.2Y) with 'X is 20% of Y' (X = 0.2Y). They sound similar but mean very different things.

1. Master the translations:
2. • 'X is P% of Y' → X = (P/100) × Y
3. • 'X is P% more than Y' → X = Y × (1 + P/100) = Y × ((100+P)/100)
4. • 'X is P% less than Y' → X = Y × (1 − P/100) = Y × ((100−P)/100)
5. • 'X is P% of what Y was' → X = (P/100) × Y
6. For chained percent changes: multiply the factors, don't add the percentages. A 20% increase followed by a 20% decrease is NOT 0% — it's a 4% net decrease (1.2 × 0.8 = 0.96).
7. To find the percent change: (New − Old)/Old × 100%.

Percent questions are EVERYWHERE — easily 4-6 per section. Mastering the translation prevents the most common GRE error.