Writing numbers has been the bane of
many writers. While each publication may have its own unique style,
beginning with a commonly recognized system is going to be the safest route
unless told otherwise. Whichever style guide you follow (commonly Associated
Press or Chicago Style), or if you make up the rules you don’t know, consistency
in your own writing will always look best.
AP Style recommends spelling out
numbers zero through nine and using numerals thereafter until one million; when
writing large numbers like 400 million or 638,200 or 3.4 million. Chicago Style
recommends writing out zero through one hundred and using numerals afterwards except
for large whole numbers like 642 billion, 1 million or four hundred thousand.
Never begin a sentence with a numeral
(1, 2, 3…). Either reword the sentence or spell it out. “22 cars were in the parking
lot” WRONG. Revise it to either “Twenty-two cars were in the parking lot” or “There
were 22 cars in the parking lot”. Remember, reword if necessary: “Nineteen
forty-five was the year the twins were born” or “The twins were born in 1945”;
AP style lets you use numerals for the year at the beginning of the sentence, “1945
was the year the twins were born”.
Use a hyphen, or en-space, when
writing compound numbers twenty-one through ninety-nine. We also hyphenate when
spelling out fractions such as one-half, two-thirds, and three-quarters. If you
are writing whole and fractions as numerals, separate the whole number from the
fraction visually or with a single space like “20½” or “20 1/2”. You do not
need to hyphenate terms such as 40 thousand or forty thousand.
While we often try to be consistent
with spelling out the number or using a numeral, it is acceptable to combine
the two styles when one number begins the sentence such as “Twelve months can
be broken down to seven months with 31 days, four months with 30 days and one
month with 28 days”. If you are writing various amounts of one item, such as “20,
30, or 40-pounds” you do not need to repeat the noun (20-pounds, 30-pounds or
40-pounds WRONG).
A few more of the common number rules…
Don’t hyphenate between the number and the word percent, use it like “Ninety percent
of the students voted yes while 60 percent of the teachers were against it”.
Finally, if you are talking about dollar figures, it is either 1,987 dollars or
$1,987, don’t use the word and the dollar sign together; use commas to separate
three numbers (hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) and decimal points (or the
period) to separate dollars from coins/cents.
Writing exercise: Use a combination of age and year of birth
for every member of your family, co-workers, or best friends, write several
sentences using those numbers.
Writing prompt: Without
looking at a receipt, try to remember what you bought during your last shopping
trip. Write down the items, quantities and prices (the best you can remember)
Challenge Assignment:
Write a detailed diary or journal about the last six months of your
life, include numbers, prices, dates, etc.
