When do you write out a number?

[Zandy595]

DS is writing a report and he needs to know when to write out the number in word form and when to use the numeral. For example 2 or two.

 

[simba928]

Numbers 0-10 are written out. Also, if it is the first word of a sentence, it is written out (Thirty-seven dogs were in the park.) If it is a date, I believe you can write it in numerals, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

[brerrabbit]

I have no idea what the rule is but my rule is write out single digit numbers like one, two, three and go with the number starting at 11,12,13.

 

[tar heel]

Always write out numbers at the beginning of a sentence: One hundred not 100.

After that, it depends on what rules you follow. Some sources (AP), for example, say write out 1-10, but the Chicago Manual of Style says 1-100. Then, you also may find instructions to use numerals when you mix numbers, such as I just did. Americans usually use numerals in dates.

 

[BillSears]

I was always told to be consistent. Either do all as 1, 2, 3, 500 etc or do all as words one, two, three, five hundred.

 

[Zandy595]

OK, so here are a two sentences in his report about shrimp:

"The males can get up to seven inches in size, whereas the females can reach 11 inches."

"They have 20 legs, but only ten are used for walking."

Would this be correct?

 

[simba928]

From what I was taught, yes, that would be correct.

 

[GoodFairies]

I just recently read that numbers up to 20 can either be spelled out or use the number. Anything higher gets the number used.

In the 2 examples you gave, I'd use whichever way you prefer, since all numbers stated are 20 and less, but I'd keep it consistent throughout.

As previously stated, one should never start a sentence with anything but the spelled version of a number.

 

[MouseWorshipin]

You spell out numbers one through nine: "In seven years, the kids will be gone and I'll be free."

If you do write out a larger number (21-99), you use a hyphen: "When I turned twenty-one I was so excited to be able to drink leagally, but I didn't get carded."

However, if you are including a larger number, then everything becomes a number. "The ages range from 3 to 103."

Ballgame scores, TV/radio stations, measurements, acts/scenes/lines and temperatures use numerals, as does anything with a decimal ("There are 2.6 million crazy people in Cleveland, and they all shop at my Wal-Mart.")

Months are spelled, but dates are numbered: December 7, 1941

 

[obi1_kenobi]

this is a bit long, but i got this from an MLA website -

Numbers & Dates

Numbers. If your topic makes little use of numbers, "you may spell out numbers written one or two words" (Gibaldi 98). Otherwise, use arabic numerals. Write: one, five, twenty-one, one hundred, eighteen hundred, but write 5½, 101, 3,810. If your writing contains the recurrent use of numeric statistical or scientific data, use numerals for those numbers but write out other numbers in the text if you can do so in one or two words. Please note the following rules:

Hyphenate compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine, compounds with a number as the first element (e.g., three-way lightbulb), and the written form of fractions.


When numbers or a date are required to open a sentence, write them out. For example: "Five girls and 125 boys tried out for the varsity soccer team." If you can, rewrite the sentence.


Do not mix numbers that are spelled out with symbols, write out the term for the symbols as well. For example, write: 45%, or forty-five percent; $20 or twenty dollars.


Do not mix numerals with written numbers when they refer to similar things. For example, "Only 10 of the 150 people on the tour (not ten of the 150 tourists) were willing to visit the city after the riot." But also write: "The President got 1.3 trillion of the 1.6 trillion dollar tax cut he proposed."


Use numerals with symbols and abbreviations (e.g., %, $, ¢, ft., lbs., p.m., ed. vol.) when these appear frequently in your text or are used in references. For example, write: 25%, $25, 50 lbs., 3rd ed., vol 5. Otherwise write out numbers with measures in your text (but not in references) when you can do so in three words or less, twenty-five percent, twenty-five dollars, fifty pounds.
Ordinal numbers follow the general rules for numbers. For example, "The window for applications was the third to twenty-third of August." But use numerals if more than two words are needed to write the number. For example, write "Haile Sellassie I was the 225th Emperor of Ethiopia." However, MLA style uses numerals exclusively in references (e.g., 2nd ed., 3rd ed.).

Inclusive range of numbers. MLA style drops digits in numbers above 99 according to specific rules. This is the process of eliding a range of inclusive numbers.
When writing numbers through 99 give the full digits. For example, write 42-48 not 42-8.


Page numbers above 99 require only the last two digits of the second number as long as the result is unambiguous. Leading zeros are not dropped in MLA practice. Write pages 1123–24 not 1123–1124; write pages 2000–04 not 2000–4 nor 2000-2004. Write pages 112–35 and pages 102–21, but write pages 102–08 not 102–8 or 102–108.


Write pages 1,584–621 not pages 1,582–1,621, and certainly not pages 1,584–21.


Elide dates only when they fall within the same century. Write the years 1865-1917 not 1865-917.
NB> When expressing a range of numerals in text do not use a dash unless the numbers reflect an inclusive range of dates, write "to" instead. For example, "The IQ range of the first group was 86 to 112." But also write "The years of the Great Depression, 1930–40, tested America severely."

Full dates when written in the text may be in US format: month day, year (e.g., August 21, 2001); or in universal or European format, day month year (e.g., 21 August 2001). MLA style requires universal format when writing dates in references so it makes sense to extend this practice to the text as well. Whatever format you select be consistent throughout the text.