Knowing how to present numbers in your writing is not a simple matter. There are many rules to follow when writing numbers.
Here are 10 rules to follow.
- Spell out single-digit numbers.
Did you hear that Tom had four hits in yesterday's game?
- Use numerals for numbers great than nine.
We had 18 students show up for the discussion group.
- Spell out numbers that begin a sentence.
Seventy students will be graduating tomorrow.
- Spell out and hyphenate simple fractions.
More than two-thirds of the students are going on the field trip.
- Use numerals for mixed fractions.
The cake recipe requires 3 ¼ cups of flour.
- Use numerals for dates.
The semester ends June 10 this year.
The semester ends on the 30th of June this year.
- Use numerals for decimals. Put a zero in front of the decimal if there is no value in front of the decimal point unless the decimal begins with a 0.
Don't add more than 1.6 pints of water to the mixture.
We had 0.23 inches of rain last month.
We had .06 inches of rain yesterday.
- Use numerals for the time of day when using a.m. or p.m.
My school day begins at 7 a.m.
- Spell out the time of day when using "o'clock."
Don't forget to come to the three o'clock meeting on Friday.
- Be consistent. Don't mix spelling out numbers and using numerals in the same sentence, even though it seems that you are violating either rule 1 or 2.
There are 8 boys and 14 girls in my class.
or
There are eight boys and fourteen girls in my class.