pronunciation - How to say fractions like "7/8" or "546/823"


I have come across the following three spoken variants for the fraction ⅞:



  1. Seven by eight

  2. Seven over eight

  3. Seven into eight


I am also aware of seven-eighths but I don't want to use that as it isn't practical for larger numbers. As an Indian, the most common variant I have heard is the first one but somehow that doesn't seem right. Besides, since English isn't our native language, I wouldn't want to trust it. I want to know from native speakers what they use and what's the correct way to refer to such numbers.


To make things even more complicated, most Indians use the third variant to mean something like 7×8, which I guess should be more appropriately referred to as seven times eight.



Answer



There could be some differences between English speaking countries, but in Australia only "seven over eight" would be understood as 7/8.


"Seven by eight" could be interpreted as 7x8 but could also be interpreted as the dimensions of a rectangle (length by width).


"Seven into eight" would be interpreted as 8/7.


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