Writing Lab How to Use Numbers in Writing

What is a Number? • A number is a mathematical idea used to count, label, and measure. Numbers can be represented by numerals or words. • Numerals or figures • • • 1/2 √ 5 3 π 25 XLI 101 1, 492 MCM 500, 000

What is a Number? Cont. Words • • • One third Five Thirteen Forty-six Ninety-nine One hundred Twelve hundred Eight thousand Twenty thousand Three million

General Rules In ordinary writing and MLA format • Spell out numbers which can be expressed as one or two words (one, thirty-six, ninety-nine, one hundred, fifteen hundred, two thousand, three million). • Use numerals for numbers with more than two words (2½, 101, 137, 1, 275). In technical writing and APA format • Spell out numbers from one to nine (one, two, three, etc. ). • Use numerals for 10 and above (10, 11, 12, etc. ). • In all contexts and formats • If you must begin a sentence with a number, spell the number out. • NOT: 1994 was my birth year. • BUT: Nineteen ninety-four was my birth year. • OR: My birth year was 1994 (preferred). • There is often more than one acceptable way to write a number; once you choose a usage, stay consistent.

Commas in Numbers Use commas between groups of three digits in most figures of 1, 000 or more. • 1, 000 • 20, 000 • 7, 654, 321 Following are some exceptions: • • Page and lines numbers (page 1014) Addresses (4132 Broadway) Four-digit year numbers (1999) Degrees of temperature (3071 °F)

Dates For dates, use cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3), not ordinal numbers (1 st, 2 nd, 3 rd). • NOT: My birthday is March 24 th. • BUT: My birthday is March 24. For three-part dates, you can use either of the forms below: • March 3, 1847 (month-day-year) • 3 March 1847 (day-month-year) If you use the month-day-year format in the middle of a sentence, place a comma after the day and the year. If you use the day-month-year format, no commas are necessary. • Alexander Graham Bell was born March 3, 1847, in Edinburgh, Scotland. • Alexander Graham Bell was born 3 March 1847 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Dates cont. • Decades are usually written out in lowercase letters (the twenties), unless they are part of special expressions (the Roaring Twenties). • Decades can also be expressed in numerals (the 1920 s, the ‘ 20 s). • Whichever form you use to express decades, be consistent.

Dates cont. 2 • Centuries • Spell out centuries in lowercase letters: • the twentieth century • the mid-nineteenth century • Hyphenate centuries when they are used as adjectives before nouns: • eighteenth-century thought • first-century Christianity

Dates cont. 3 • Year Designation • The abbreviation BC follows the year, but AD precedes it. • 19 BC • AD 565 • Some writers prefer to use BCE and CE, both of which follow the year.

Times • When clock times precede a. m. or p. m. , use numerals: • NOT: ten-twenty a. m. • BUT: 10: 20 a. m. • NOT: eight p. m. • BUT: 8: 00 p. m. • Spell out hours expressed in quarter and half hours and hours followed by o’clock: • NOT: 6: 00 o’clock • BUT: six o’clock • NOT: a quarter to 12 • BUT: a quarter to twelve • NOT: half-past 10 • BUT: half-past ten

Decimals Use numerals for numbers containing decimals: • • • 98. 7 degrees 5. 5 million 0. 23 cm 99. 99% $77. 77 (Money amounts containing dollars and cents may be spelled out in rare situations, for example, in legal documents. )

Percentages • Use numerals to express percentages (75%, 9 percent). • Most style guides suggest that you • use the percent symbol (100%) in technical or scientific writing; • use the word percent (100 percent) in writing that requires numbers less frequently. • Once you choose a usage, stay consistent.

Units of Measurement • Use numerals with units of measurement expressed as abbreviations or symbols. • • 515 lbs 0. 45 cm 20 Hz 6’ 2” 212 °F 70 mph ¥ 88, 909 $500 • If the context is not technical, if the number is not a decimal and is below 9 (for APA) or can be spelled in two words or fewer (for MLA), and if the unit of measurement is spelled out, you may express the number in words: • • • The average U. S. resident eats almost four pounds of meat per day. My brother is six feet two inches tall. The temperature was a bone-numbing five degrees Fahrenheit. The freight train crept along at eight miles per hour. I bought this fine-looking truck for a mere five hundred dollars.

Roman Numerals Use Roman numerals • to differentiate popes, kings, emperors, queens, etc. with the same name (Henry I, Pope Benedict XVI) • to differentiate male members of the same family with identical names (Martin Luther King III) • to number the major sections of an outline or the acts in a play (Act I, Scene III) • to conform to an established terminology (Type II error) • to cite pages of a book that are numbered with Roman numerals (xxv-xxvi)

That’s all, folks! • This lesson is part of the UWF Writing Lab Grammar Mini-Lesson Series • Lessons adapted from Real Good Grammar, Too by Mamie Webb Hixon • To find out more, visit the Writing Lab’s website where you can take a self-scoring quiz corresponding to this lesson