We often see a lot of numbers typed as numbers, not as words: 1 rather than one. While this may be marginally quicker, there are certain situations where we would suggest one or the other should be used.
When to use words for numbers:
When a number is the first word of a sentence, unless it's a year.
Twenty-four soldiers joined the battle.
Two thousand men rode to war.
1912 was a very good year.
When writing the numbers one through nine (including measurements of distance).
There were nine soldiers.
He ate four hot dogs.
He walked five miles.
When casually referring to time.
He usually went to bed at eight o’clock.
When writing approximates.
Approximately twenty-four soldiers joined the battle.
When writing fractions.
He ate three-fourths of the hot dogs.
When writing a single measurement reference.
Emeril used six cups of sugar for his recipe.
When writing numbers in a common category, but with a separate item outside of the category series.
When treating his three patients, House ordered 6 pills for Jim, 3 injections for Tom, and 2 tests for Jane.
When writing a decade without a year qualifier.
Eric was a child of the seventies.
When writing a century.
He was the greatest writer of the nineteenth century.
When to use numerals for numbers:
When writing a year.
He graduated in 1962.
When writing dates.
He won the match on March 20.
When writing round numbers above a million.
The asteroid impact killed 10 million people.
When specifically referring to time.
In 1979 the show moved to a 10 p.m. timeslot.
When writing numbers in a common category.
House ordered 6 pills for Jim, 3 injections for Tom, and 2 tests for Jane.
When writing decimal fractions.
He ate 1.75 hot dogs.
When writing percentages, spelling out the word percent. Use the percentage sign (%) if you are writing out several percentages.
He ate 75 percent of the hot dogs.
Willard Scott predicted a 70% chance of rain, a 20% chance of snow, and a 10% chance of hail.
When writing numbered part of a book or other object.
He read pages 15-20 of “Moby Dick.”
He went to the 73th Street Bridge.
When writing a decade with a century qualifier.
Eric was a child of the 1970s.
When writing sports statistics and measurements (for distance, spell out one through nine as mentioned earlier).
He hit 10 RBIs in 1970 and 15 RBIs in 1971.
He weighted 180 pounds.
The board was 4 foot long.
Next column: New Season, New Shows
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Previous columns:
Write Like You Talk
Sourcing Your Material
Know Your Capitals!
A Matter of Timing
Soundalikes and You
Periods and Commas and Colons, Oh My!
Apostrophes, Hyphens, and Quotation Marks, Oh My!
Edited on 05/19/2007 5:17pm
Edited 3 total times.
Edited 3 total times.
