“9% of respondents indicated that they did not have car insurance.”

Your company conducted a survey of car owners to find out their opinions of different car insurance companies. You're writing a summary of the results.

9% of respondents indicated that they did not have car insurance.

Want Video and Sound? Follow us on YouTube

9%

When you're writing for academic papers at school, the rule is that you're supposed to write out numbers from 0-10, and write numerals for numbers above 10:

Eight people

Three percent

13

900

However, for business e-mails and documents, it's usually best to use numerals for all numbers because it's easier to read when you're scanning a document quickly.

respondents

"Respondents" are people who answer a survey, an advertisement, or a post. "Respondent" is related to the word "respond".

This is a pretty technical-sounding word, so you won't hear it much in spoken conversation. It's more common in newspaper articles, academic journals, and other formal written documents.

(someone) indicated that (clause)

For a person to "indicate" something means that they communicate it through speech, writing, or maybe your facial expressions:

The president also indicated that his administration would work hard to pass the bill.

When talking about surveys, you often say that "respondents indicated that..."

car insurance

People buy car insurance as a way to protect themselves from having to pay a lot of money if they have a car accident. There are a few major types of car insurance:

  • Collision coverage is insurance that pays you for any damage to your car.
  • Liability coverage pays for any damage that you do to someone else's car, or for the hospital bills of anyone that you injure.