Writing Numbers in Technical Documents Celia M. Elliott. Spell out cardinal numbers one to nine. The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. AP Style - percent AP. 'percent' spelled out has become pretty much standard in. 'Estimates range 5-10 years.' Or is this better: 'Estimates range from 5 to 10 years'? from Chicago, Illinois on May 23, 2012. . MSU Press journals follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition. (Chicago exception), and include city and state. Spell out percent in text (not %) (9.19).
Numbers: Spell Out or Use Numerals? Number Style 1. 01). Numbers take up their own planet in the style universe, so let's explore it one mountain at a time. This post covers the basic rules and the basic exceptions. They're like siblings, I tell ya.) After we get the fundamentals out of the way, we can move on to fun subcategories, such as money and measurements! Here's a little number warm- up to get your brains up and running. Cardinal numbers: one, 7, forty- one, one hundred nine, 8.
Ordinal numbers: 1st, seventh, 4. Arabic numerals: 1, 7, 4. Roman numerals: I, VII, XLI, CIX, DCCCLII, MMMLXIThe best way to commit these distinctions to your long- term memory is to type them out and make up a string of examples for each. Trust me.)Note: The 2.
Associated Press Stylebook prefers the ambiguous word "figure" to refer to number symbols (e. I'm sticking to the definition in AP's dictionary of choice, Webster's New World College Dictionary—"a figure, letter, or a group of any of these, expressing a number." The Chicago Manual of Style differentiates numerals from words as well. Basic Number Rules (for Nontechnical Copy)AP (p. Spell out whole numbers up to (and including) nine (e.
% or percent? This is a discussion. Would you write it out as fifty percent or 50 percent? BarbaraPA. Academic writing generally follows the Chicago Manual of Style guidelines which are.
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- Using Numbers. Since we began. when writers should spell out numbers and when they should use numerals. The Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed., 2003).
- . Spell Out or Use Numerals? (Number Style 101). or a group of any of these, expressing a number.' The Chicago Manual of Style differentiates numerals from. Chicago (9.6): Spell out ordinal numbers up to (and.
- If numbers must be written out by using words. the rule is to always use the numeral with “percent,” as in “1 percent, 100 percent. The Chicago Manual of Style Citation Share.
Spell out casual expressions: "A picture is worth a thousand words, but a really good one is worth a thousand dollars." Chicago (9. Spell out whole numbers up to (and including) one hundred (e. Spell out whole numbers up to (and including) one hundred when followed by "hundred," "thousand," "hundred thousand," "million," "billion," and so on (e.
Alternative rule: Spell out whole numbers up to (and including) nine, and use numerals for the rest. That's right, you have a choice. Control yourselves or we will make you spell out phone numbers in the 1. Numbers Beginning a Sentence.
AP (p. 2. 02): Spell out numbers that begin a sentence unless it begins with a year (e. Twelve drummers," "The 1.
Chicago (9. 5): Always spell out numbers that begin a sentence, or reword to avoid unwieldiness. Well, if you think that "Nineteen ninety- one" looks more awesome than "The year 1. Awkward silence as double bind takes effect]Note: There is no "and" when you spell out whole numbers (e. Dalmatians," not "one hundred and one Dalmatians"). It might be acceptable in speech, however, a grammatical deviation along the lines of "It's me!" and "Who are you talking to?"Ordinals. AP (p. 2. 02): Spell out ordinal numbers up to (and including) "ninth" when indicating sequence in time or location (e.
U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals). Chicago (9. 6): Spell out ordinal numbers up to (and including) "hundredth" (e. A Word About Consistency.
AP (p. 2. 03): If you're juggling a bunch of numbers within the same sentence, stick to the rules as stated and you'll be fine. Breathe. Chicago (9. If you're juggling a bunch of numbers within the same paragraph or series of paragraphs, be flexible with the number style if doing so will improve clarity and comprehension. For example, use one number style for items in one category and another style for another category: "I read four books with more than 4. Now that the basics of number style have been laid out, I bet that you can smell the exceptions 1. A beat, then exit stage right].
Numbers. Q. I am editing some reports for my college. I had some good times in the ’6. What. do we call them? A. It is lucky that the ’2. In writing, “the ’0. I seem to recall that people writing about the first decade of the.
Fewer writers speak of the “teens,”. Chicago doesn’t favor. In any case, one can always use numerals: 2. That said, I wonder if and when something better will be dreamed up and successfully adopted. Q. I’m muddling through a budget document, and I cannot remember (i.
When written out at the beginning of a sentence, it seems to me that the plural works better, since. Seven thousand dollars are needed for . . .). When presented as $7,0.
Ordinarily, I would dodge the whole issue by using the active rather than the passive voice, but local custom is to place. I think that’s so our readers won’t have to. I’ve just moved, and I haven’t yet located my CMOS (I should have marked that box in neon orange); can you help? A. It’s best to use the singular. For an example, see CMOS 9. Q. If numbers must be written out by using words, are commas added in the same places as they would be used for digits? Example. 2. 3,5. 04,0.
Thanks! A. No commas should be used when numbers are written out. The longer the number, the more awkward it may seem, but commas would make the number look like a series of smaller numbers. Q. Dear style gurus, the rule is to always use the numeral with “percent,” as in. Our question concerns “zero.
I say it should be spelled out, because your numeral rule applies to “numbers. ONE through one hundred.” My co- worker says, nope, you’ve got to use 0.
Who’s. right? What’s the rule? A. Our rule is that all percentages and decimal fractions are set in numerals, in humanistic as well as scientific copy. The. only exception is for the beginning of a sentence. Zero percent of American- born participants in a recent poll could remember where they were—not to mention.
Theodore Roosevelt was charging up San Juan Hill. The ideal income tax, some people say, would be 0 percent of net income. The sixteenth edition of CMOS makes this clear: Chicago’s general rule is to spell out zero through one hundred. See paragraph 9. 2. Q. In prose, when writing percentages, which is correct: 1.
A. Chicago prefers the use of numerals for all numbers used as part of percentages, but use the word “percent”. Q. In the admittedly rare circumstances when you want to write out the name of a large number, are there any agreed- upon guidelines. Is it “six hundred seventy- two”. I was taught the former in grade school; a colleague. I should note that said colleague is Canadian; is this perhaps a question of American. British usage? All consulted manuals are, inexplicably, silent on the matter. A. See paragraph 9.
The Chicago Manual of Style. Some writers prefer using and, but Chicago’s preference is to omit it. Q. A quandary: I’m seeing September 1.
New Yorker magazine, where editing is usually superb, but somewhat antiquated. The New York Times refers to the date as Sept. Please give me a rundown of your recommendations for this particular date, including.
September 1. 1 tragedy?). Or is it still too soon to have a set standard?
Thanks. I’m. probably the 9. A. In written text, Chicago’s rule is to write a cardinal rather than an ordinal, even though the number. September 1. 1the September 1. September 1. 1, 2. When a day alone is mentioned, it is usually in the form of an ordinal but spelled out: September 1. United States. The tenth will therefore always be important, even.
As for an abbreviated form for September 1. CMOS 1. 6, paragraph 9. Q. You’ve stumped me. I teach a copyediting class at Emerson College, where I’ve. CMOS for years as a required text. This term, I gave my class a quiz on using numbers in which one of the questions was a simple.
True or False about spelling whole numbers one through ninety- nine. Some students got it wrong because, they insisted, their. Sure enough, several students have one version of 8.
Since. everyone is using the fourteenth edition, we are very curious—not to say confounded. What’s. up with that quirky 8. Are there any other differences I should know about? I’d appreciate any insights. I have already ordered the book for next semester. Thanks! A. Ah, yes, the infamous 8. CMOS. Earlier printings of the fourteenth edition applied sound logic.
Look at the two- part rule: (1) the numbers one through ninety- nine. It would be redundant to write in the first part that one through one hundred should be spelled. Logical as this may have been, the wording confused many of us. So we changed the first part of the rule to make it clearer. The rule now confuses (almost) no one, even though it is a bit redundant. In the fifteenth edition, we retained the clarity of later printings of the fourteenth.
For the sixteenth, we’ve. CMOS 1. 6, paragraph 9. Q. Telephone numbers . . . CMOS prefer? (8. 00) 5. What if the country code is required? A. We prefer hyphens or hyphens and parentheses, as follows (though you may choose to leave out “1- ”—the.
United States and Canada). But unless you are constrained by, for example, an Internet form, it’s okay to use periods or slashes. Any hyphens, parentheses, spaces, periods, etc. Where these aids are is more important than what they are; one does not, for example, dial (or more likely press) a parenthesis or a hyphen.
For international numbers, include the country code preceded by a plus (which indicates that additional numbers, depending. For example, a French number looks like this—. France, “1”. designates the Île- de- France region (which includes Paris), and the rest is the usual eight paired digits.
French telephone numbers. From the United States, the plus sign signals the 0. Q. When talking about “the turn of the century” (from 1. It seems that since the years 1. Please advise. A. There is no general agreement about what a phrase like “turn of the nineteenth century”. It does seem to suggest the “turn of the nineteenth century into the twentieth”—i.
But it’s probably best to stick to the more. Theodore. Roosevelt’s charge up San Juan Hill.