OST164Text Editing Applications

Section 4 – Numbers

Part III

Ages and Anniversaries (433)

Express ages in figures when they are used as significant statistics or as technical measurements.

Ethel Kennedy, 38, has been promoted.

Monthly retirement benefits are payableat the age of 65.

A class is offered to all 8- and 9-year olds.

When age is expressed in years, months, and days, do not use commas to separate the elements. One January 1, she will be 19 years 4 months 17 days old.

Note: The “and” linking months and days may be added.

One January 1, she will be 19 years 4 months and 17 days old.

Ages and Anniversaries (434-435)

Spell out ages in nontechnical references and in formal writing.

My son is ten years old and my daughter is fifteen.(My son, 10, and my daughter, 15, were born on the same day.)

Shirley is in her early forties; her husband is in his mid-fifties.Have you ever tried keeping a group of five-year-olds happy?

Spell out ordinals in references to birthdays and anniversaries.

On my thirtieth birthday, I am having a party.Today is our twenty-fifth anniversary.Her forty-first class reunion is next month.

Periods of Time (436)Use figures to express periods of time when they are used as technical measurements or significant statistics (as in discounts, interest rates, and credit terms)

a 35-hour workweeka 30-year mortgagea note due in 6 monthsa 2 percent interest rate

Figures are also used with a diagonal in special expressions:

a 24/7 telephone service (24 hours a day 7 days a week)A 4/10 work schedule (4 days a week 10 hours a day)

Periods of Time (437)

Spell out nontechnical references to periods of time unless the number requires more than two words.

• a twenty-minute wait

• the next twelve days

• eight hours later

• a two-week cruise

• in the last fifteen years

• two thousand years ago

But…350 years ago (more than two words)

Periods of Time (438-439)

Centuries may be expressed as follows:• the 1900s• the nineteen hundreds• the twentieth century• the twenty-first century

Decades may be expressed as follows:

• the 1990s• the nineteen-nineties• the nineties• The ’90s• the mid-1960s• the mid-sixties• the mid-’60s

Clock Time (440)• Always use figures with a.m. and p.m.

We take off at 8:45 a.m. The bus is due at 2 p.m.

• For time “on the hour,” zeros are not needed to denote minutes.

Our store is open from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.You may call me between 2 and 4 p.m.

• Do not use a.m. or p.m.:– Unless figures are used.– With o’clock (more formal)– With expressions “in the morning” – “in the afternoon” – “in the evening”

Right: Please call me at 9 p.m.

Right: Please call me at nine in the evening. Wrong: Please call me at 9 p.m. in the evening.

With O'clock (441)• With o’clock, use figures for emphasis or words for

formality.3 o’clock (for emphasis)

three o’clock (for formality)

• Do not use a colon and two zeros whenusing o’clock to express time “on the hour.”

Half past four o’clock “or” Half after four o’clock

• Expressions of time containing o’clock may be reinforced by such phrases as in the morning and in the afternoon.

10 o’clock in the morning seven o’clock in the evening

Without a.m. – p.m. – o’clock (442)

When expressing time without a.m., p.m., or o’clock, either spell the time out “or” convert the expression to an all-figure style.

arrive at eight “or” arrive at 8:00 (not 8)

five after six “or” 6:05

a quarter past ten “or” 10:15

twenty of four “or” 3:40

half past nine “or” 9:30

Percentages (447)• Express percentages in figures, and

spell out the word percent.

When your mortgage rate goes to 7 percent, call me.

• Spell out the number when the percent does not represent a technical measurement.

We are behind you a hundred percent.• Fractional percentages under 1 percent :

0.5 percent - 0.35 percent

• Fractional percentages over 1 percent: 7.50 percent

• In a range of percentages, the word percent follows the last figure only. We give discounts of 10, 20, and 30 percent.

Ratios, Proportions, Scores, and Voting Results (450-451)

• Ratios and Proportion - Write as figures. a proportion of 5 to 1 a 5:1 ratio a 5-to-1 ratio

• Scores and Voting Results – Write as figures.a score of 85 on the testa vote of 17 to 6a 5-4 Supreme Court decisiona Senate vote of 58-42

Figures with Abbreviations and Symbols (453)

• Always use figures with abbreviations and symbols.• If a symbol is used in a range of numbers, it should be

repeated with each number.

20o-30o 5½” x 8” 30% to 40% • A full word or an abbreviation used in place of the

symbol is given only with the last number.

20 to 30 degrees

5 ½ by 8 inches

30 to 40 percent

No. or # With Figures (455)

If the term number precedes a figure, express it a an abbreviation.

• Singular would be No.• Plural would be Nos.

Becky is our No. 1 resource on law matters.

Our check covers the following invoices: Nos. 85, 98, and 14.

If an identifying noun precedes the figure(Invoice, Check, Room) - the abbreviationNo. is usually unnecessary.

Our check covers Invoices 85, 98, and 100.Are we meeting in Room 25, 35, or 45?

Adjacent Numbers (456)

When two numbers come together in a sentence(and they are both numbers or they are both are spelledout) - separate them with a comma.

Joe purchased 25, 11-inch plates for the party.Annie laid three, two-page letters on your desk to sign.

NOTE: To prevent a misreading, it is helpful to spell out the smaller or simpler of the two numbers. When one number is a unit of measurement, make it the numeral.

I purchased twenty-five ,11” plates for the party.

Juan is taking two, 4-credit courses during the summer quarter.

Enough soil will be collected to fill two 8-ounce sample jars.