Could someone please explain the use of で (in bold) below? The line is taken from the article: 男の子の将来の夢は「学者」 女の子は「食べ物屋さん」 and describes the results of a survey.
女の子で1番多かったのは、21年続けて「食べ物屋さん」で、11.3%でした。2番目は「看護師さん」で9.5%、3番目は「保育園や幼稚園の先生」で6.9%でした。
I'm confident about what is meant (since context makes it so clear) but if I were to have constructed it myself, I never would have used で. I'd have probably done something like:
「食べ物屋さん」と答えた子が11.3%でした
which could easily be unintelligible gibberish and would appreciate a correction is needed.
Also, I'm having a hard time finding exactly what a 食べ物屋さん is. Is this a person who prepares food at a restaurant, is it a waitress, is it just a generic term for anyone who works at a restaurant, or is it something else entirely?
で's are all the 連用形 of だ
-> Yes (except the で in 女の子で )Is ”Aで、Bでした" a valid way to say "A is B"?
-> "Aで、Bでした" means "[Subject] was A, and (was) B." – Chocolate♦ Jan 12 '18 at 3:13