Numbers

Jared Aragona

Numbers: Follow proper standards for writing numbers.

Generally, in non-technical writing, spell out numbers that require only one or two words.  More than that, use figures.

There were twelve children in the Pruitt family.

James turned sixty-five last summer.

There were exactly 235 termites in that termite tube.

Traveling to that planet would take us 1,256,334 years.

 

Spell out numbers when they are the first word of a sentence.  Dates are the exception.

Two hundred thousand soldiers were expected to pass through the port.

2015 was the most exciting year for me.

 

Use figures when writing units of measurement, dates, percentages, addresses, and scores.

The car came to a stop only 25 millimeters away from the wall.

In  December 1986, I realized I wanted to move west.

The survey suggests 87% of students want more restaurants on campus.

The strangers moved into 2434 Calabasas Way.

At the end of the game, the score was 154 to 156.

The MLCKRB (Master List Code Key and Rule Book): An English Grammar & Style Handbook by Jared Aragona, CC BY 4.0

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Numbers Copyright © by Jared Aragona is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

Share This Book