How to Use Numbers in Writing - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Writing Lab

How to Use Numbers in WritingSlide2

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

500,000Slide3

What is a Number? Cont.

Words

One

third

Five

Thirteen

Forty-six

Ninety-nine

One hundred

Twelve hundred

Eight thousand

Twenty thousand

Three millionSlide4

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.Slide5

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)Slide6

Dates

For dates, use cardinal numbers (1, 2, 3), not ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd).

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.Slide7

Dates cont.

Decades

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 1920s, the ‘20s).

Whichever

form you use to express decades, be consistent.Slide8

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 ChristianitySlide9

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.Slide10

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 tenSlide11

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.)Slide12

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.Slide13

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.Slide14

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

)Slide15

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