Using Numbers in Writing
March 13, 2010 by Dawn Allcot
Filed under Uncategorized
As with so many other grammar and style rules and conventions, the way we write numbers has changed as blogging has grown. More and more writers now use numerals in all instances rather than spelling out numbers below 10. It makes sense; numbers are easy to read and catch your eye on the computer screen. But according to both the AP style guide and the Chicago Manual of Style — it’s wrong.
I confess to straying from this rule recently, until one client steered me back in the right direction. I won’t break this hard-and-fast rule again! (Unless, of course, a particular editor dictates it; that falls under the rule, “The client is always right.”)
The Rules for Writing Numbers
In AP Style, you should spell out all numbers up to (but not including) 10. Use numerals to represent numbers 10 and up. In other words: one, two, three… But 11, 12, 13.
According to the Chicago Manual of Style, all numbers ten and under should be spelled out. (I’ve switched styles in this article to demonstrate my point.) Numbers 11 and up should be represented by their numerals.
This is a key difference between the two styles (and one that gives writers who have to switch between styles the most headaches).
Here’s where the exceptions begin, according to both style books.
Notable and Common Exceptions
Always spell out a number if it begins a sentence. “Two-thousand-ninety-seven comments would be nice to have on this blog post.”
However, it’s better to re-word the sentence so you can use numerals instead. “I’d like to receive 2,097 comments on this blog post.”
If you begin a sentence with a year, you should not spell out the year. It’s much better to simply re-word the sentence.
EX: Correct: “2009 marked the year I began blogging for FreelanceWritingGigs.com.”
EX: Better (for a number of reasons): “I began blogging for FreelanceWritingGigs.com in 2009.”
More Cases to Use Numerals
There are a host of other occasions to use a numeral when you follow AP style.
Use numerals for:
- Dimensions and measurements
- Ages
- Years
- Percentages (but spell out the word percent)
- Street addresses
- Time
- Amounts of money
Do not write out two numerals back-to-back; spell out one of the numbers. “We used three 20-foot sections of fence.”
Writing Large Numbers
For seven-digit numbers (or greater), do not write out the zeros. Instead, use numerals and spell out the words: 7 million, 8 billion.
You can (and should) round off large numbers. In other words, 3,755,021 can be rounded off to 3.8 million.
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Thanks, I’ve learned ten new things today!
I tend to follow the AP style, but find that some Internet marketing and SEO firms I worked for prefer that I not adhere to the AP rules about numbers and will prefer titles like “7 Tips to Increasing Your Website Traffic” for seo purposes. Still, no matter how often I break the rules, it doesn’t feel natural to me.
Kimberly´s last blog ..Revisiting the SEO for Your Blog Series
This touches on one of the many subtle differences between US, UK, and European English: For instance, in UK English the numeral 2,097 would be written as “two thousand and ninety seven”. (Also note that the full-stop (or period) was on the outside of the quotation marks in the above sentence!).
In Europe, that same numeral would be written as 2.097 (with a point rather than a comma).
‘Billion’ is a tough word: A US billion is 1,000,000,000 (one thousand million) while a UK billion is 1,000,000,000,000 (one million million).
And we all thought we speak the same language! I guess the only hard and fast rule is Know Your Audience and Your Client but Trust Your Instincts.
Imogen´s last blog ..The Rest of the Day She Left – Part 2
Kimberly,
That situation was precisely what prompted this post! I see it happening so often now in web writing that, for clients who don’t have a preference, I tend to use numerals (especially in titles).
When a client came back to me and requested I spell out numbers under 10, I breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Ah, good old AP style! Not a problem.”
William-Your compliment made me smile. Thank you!
Imogen — Very well said! Thanks for visiting and commenting! The capitalist in me likes all those zeros after the UK Billion…woo-hoo! But if a billion is one million million, what is one thousand million? I’m guessing there aren’t a lot of billionaires in the UK.
Salute you for outlining key rules for enumeration in a concise, clear format.
Many thanks. In Health & Peace, Nan
Na´s last blog ..Life Happens, Blogging on back burner, Motivation
Great article. My only suggestion is to carefully
consider the subject being written about before
rounding off/up a number.
Wow!!! I am a PR Practitioner and have to write releases; speeches and now have to update FB pages and website content. Thank you!!