Number Number? 10

[SamBones]

I was just writing something and thought of Tek-Tips. Which of these is most correct?

1) The campus has 5 3 story buildings.
2) The campus has 5 three story buildings.
3) The campus has five 3 story buildings.
4) The campus has five three story buildings.
5) Other: _______________________________

Is a hyphen needed? Punctuation of some kind?

Maybe it's because it's late in the day, but none of them look correct to me now.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I would write: The campus has five three-story buildings.

Compound adjectives should be hyphenated. As far as number, I still go by the rule that values under 10 should be spelled out.

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[hairlessupportmonkey]

Indeed - I was always taught just typing single digits into a sentence looks untidy and was lazy ;-)

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[BadBigBen]

I would go with your list number five (5)... ;-)

rule of thumb: any number under 10, and any number beginning a sentence, should be written out... Exception would be if you are referring to a list of items, e.g. Rule 1, here you could use either the digit or the written form...

this I was ingrained into me by my English teacher (Mrs. Bourland) back in High School...

Here a few links for further reading:

Hyphen

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/hyphens.asp

Rules for Writing Numbers

http://www.grammarbook.com/numbers/numbers.asp

Merriam-Webster's Table of Numbers

http://www.merriam-webster.com/table/dict/number.htm

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
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[N1GHTEYES]

In general I agree concerning writing out numbers less than 10 in full. However, I think there are other exceptions.

It seems to me the eye finds it easier and quicker to pick numeric characters out of text than to scan the whole text looking for the words for those numbers. So if, in what you are writing, the numbers are key, and the reader needs to be able to extract the relevant information at a glance, then I think it is considerate to the reader to make his job as easy as possible by using digits rather than words.

For example, I was recently doing a course with exercises which had to be completed fairly quickly. In the course of the exercise, I frequently needed to refer back to the task requirements to get the relevant data. In doing so, it was a lot easier to find the numerical values than those which were specified using words. In fact, in one case I remember getting one exercise completely wrong because I'd missed one of the requirements entirely. I'd scanned the paragraph for numbers and made sure I'd accounted for them all in the code I produced, but missed the fact that one of them was buried as text.

It boils down to asking which format is better for the reader's purposes. Function trumps form.

Tony

 

[Noway2]

Generally, I concur with the rule of spelling out numbers less than 10. In regards to N1ghteyes' comment, I will sometimes write out the number and then put it numerically in parenthesis. For example, the number five (5). I tend to do this mostly in technical documents, where numerical values are critical information, than other forms of writing.

 

[IPGuru]

To be grammatically correct in English all numbers should be written as words.

However as previous posts have highlighted this is not always the most practical option depending on purpose

As I am not a pedant I would say use which ever method is most comfortable for the intended use.



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[SamBones]

Excellent. Thank you. I knew posting this here would get me detail on both the rules, and the exceptions. That's why I keep coming back here.

 

[SamBones]

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[hairlessupportmonkey]

Hurrah!

ACSS - SME
General Geek

 

[kwbMitel]

I'm not saying this is correct but my first thought still applies. I would simply rearrange the sentence to avoid the issue.

Modifying #4

4) The campus has five buildings of three stories each.

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[Annihilannic]

And isn't it supposed to be "storey" when one refers to levels of a building?

Annihilannic
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[BadBigBen]

And isn't it supposed to be "storey"

only in the plural form, e.g. stories or storeys, I've never seen it as a singular... but I think that storey is more common in British English...

or one could use the word floor(s) instead...



Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[KenCunningham]

Surely a storey is a singular in itself?

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[hjgoldstein]

Storey could be adjectival as in "Three storey building".



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[hairlessupportmonkey]

I believe we say in the UK, "It is a three storey building."

Oh wait, most of england (although I grew up in NZ) will say, "It's a phree storey building init."

ACSS - SME
General Geek

 

[SamBones]

I would write: The campus has five three-story buildings.

Compound adjectives should be hyphenated. As far as number, I still go by the rule that values under 10 should be spelled out.

Good points, but what if the buildings were taller? This looks odd to me...

The campus had five 27-story buildings.

Is it still correct to hyphenate a number with a word?

 

[CajunCenturion]

Yes, it is still correct to hyphenate compound adjectives even if the first part of the compound adjective is number expressed in numerals. (and even if story is spelt storey )

Also, when a noun is functioning as an adjective, it really doesn't have number - i.e. it's neither singular nor plural - so it not be shown as plural. They are three-story buildings, not three-stories buildings.






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Good Luck
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read
FAQ181-2886
Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something. - Plato