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When to spell out numbers 1

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Volk359

Volk359

Technical User
Jun 30, 2004
395
US
Greetings all,

I've been curious as to when a number should be spelled out or when it should be left in it's numerical form. For example:

I have two children, ages 5 and 7.

Is this more or less correct? (gramatically, too) I guess when counting things as long as it's a small number then it's spelled out but larger numbers are shown numerically. My two children or I have 2000 pennies in a jar but I wouldn't write it's the year two thousand five or my ninety eight Chevy. Maybe it’s a date thing.

Other examples come to mind, too. Is there a rule of thumb to use?

Thanks!
 
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Incorrect: "2 years ago, we went to Mexico."
Correct: "Two years ago, we went to Mexico."
Click to expand...

1 objector here.

There really are no rules. It all depends on the effect you want.

42nd Street, 1984, 2001 etc. all break the rule cited.

As for wider use, a google search fouGoogle found that the new pope is Benedict XVI for most sources, 150,000 as opposed to 558 for "Benedict the 16th", 80 for "Benedict 16th" and 210 for "Benedict the sixteenth"

------------------------------
An old man [tiger] who lives in the UK
 
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==> There really are no rules.

Every style guide that I've seen has a section dealing with numbers and they are all fairly consistent with most of the points presented in the thread.

Most also agree that dates, times, and addresses are handled differently than ordinary numbers.

With respect the Benedict XVI, that is a proper name and the use of Roman Numerals is correct. That you can find so many hits on Google using Arabic digits, or other representations, is a testament to how wrong some people can be, especially with shorthand.

Whereas he is the sixteenth Pope to take the name Benedict, his name is Benedict XVI.

Good Luck
--------------
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Gwydion, I totally understand what you are saying. But notice that each of the "rule breakers" that you cited, are (for lack of a better term) "Proper numbers" (similar to a Proper Name). If you are referring to a "Proper number", then I would always "spell" it with numerals rather than with alphabetic characters.

As an example, I would use the following constructions:
"Two years ago, we went to Mexico."
"2 A.D. was a year of significant growth in the life of Christ."
Click to expand...
And to further clarify, the "rules" we see here in this thread are ones that appear in industrially recognised journalistic style books. No one serves jail time for disobeying the style guidelines. The style guidelines exist very often to provide a verifiable basis for institutionalising journalistic snobbery...we've all seen those who use such rules to inflict abuse on others, "You are of lower linguistic class than I since you broke a 'universally accepted' journalistic rule."

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.
 
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I think I'd just chicken out and say "I have a 5 year old and a 7 year old." If I did indeed have these children, I'd be too tired to say anything more.
Thanks!
Elanor
 
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I agree, Elanor. We had six children, ages 6 and under (one set of Dublin Irish twins), who have all (thankfully) made it to adulthood. Grandchildren are God's reward to us for not killing our teenagers.

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.
 
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SantaMufasa,

We had six children, ages 6 and under (one set of Dublin Irish twins), who have all (thankfully) made it to adulthood.

I have never heard an expression like that: "ages 6 and under ... who ... made it to adulthood". I would assume that they are either 6 and under, or already made it to adulthood (say, 30 and under?). I would probably say that "we had six children within six years ... who ... made it to adulthood" - but I've really had only 2, over a big stretch of time, and none is adult yet.
 
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Stella, I would agree that your alternative is much more precise and eloquent. Well done. And yes, their ages are currently 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 30; yielding a total of 8 grandchildren ages 6 months - 8 years. Whew!

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.
 
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Your own little population explosion :)



BocaBurger
<===========================||////////////////|0
The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!
 
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1 - Use numerical figures for any number expressing time, measurement, or money

2 - Write out numbers if they are below 10. If they are 10 or above, use figures

3 - Write out numbers that begin a sentence

4 - Rewrite sentences beginning with a very large number

5 - Use figures to express approximations that are based on experience, evidence, or both

6 - Write out approximations that are obvious exaggerations for effect

7 - Use a combination of letters and figures for very large round numbers (1 million or greater)

8 - Be consistent

9 - Use figures for quantities containing both whole numbers and fractions

10- Always use figures for percentages and decimal fractions

11- Always use figures for dates

12- Form the plural of a number expressed as a figure by adding a lowercase -s

13- Use a comma to separate groups of three digits


source: Franklin Covey Style Guide, 1999
 
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[clink]
Here, here!
[/clink]

13- Use a comma to separate groups of three digits
Click to expand...

I remember my elementary math and at the time the comma was optional for four digit numbers, i.e. 5400 or 5,400 was OK. Still valid?
 
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<From the same source>

13 - Use a comma to separate groups of three digits

Note 1: In some technical fields, the preferred style is to omit the comma separating digits in numbers only four digits long:

5600
9999

Note 2: A practice outside the U.S. is to use a space instead of a comma to separate groups of three digits:

7 143
98 072.1
1 742 600 503
 
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Stinsman,

Using white-space to represent commas is a scary thing (IMHO); modern-day variable-spacing fonts can make white space virtually disappear. I'm a believer in the notion of "don't let 'nothing' represent 'something'." (Note to rest of world: Please don't post replies arguing that 'space' is something...I'll be the first to agree that it is electronically something...it's just difficult to tell what it is visually: I challenge someone to visually differentiate a 'space', from a NULL, from an implied comma, from a tab, from other white space, et cetera.)

[santa]Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.
 
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I agree...personally, I wouldn't suggest using a space to be used in place of a comma...I was just posting the answer to the question : )
 
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==&gt; Note 2: A practice outside the U.S. is to use a space instead of a comma to separate groups of three digits:

Actually, that practice is suggested by the US Government through the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST), which is an agency of the US Commerce Department. The space is preferred to the comma as the grouping character because of the widespread use of the comma as the decimal marker.

Good Luck
--------------
To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein
 
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Mufasa,
You mean like Swine Flu vaccine???

Boy, that could be a whole new thread...

Tranman
 
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