Who decides to change...

[Pin Wizard]

English grammar? We use The Bedford Handbook at school. Who decides to change things and why is it correct? Remember when we used to spell out numbers one through ten? Now the correct way is to use numerals. I find it weird that if the number is over three words or more, you write the numeral. And how about the four seasons? They used to be capitalized, now they aren't. I still prefer to use my Katie Gibbs stylebook!

 

[JohnTBap]

OH man. I just taught my kids the numeral thing!!

 

[Cindy B]

Actually at the college where I work, the "correct" way is spelling everything out from one to ten but putting a number in Parentheses after it.


Case in point, I write numerous credit award letters... they go something like this,.

Congratualtions! The evaluator has awarded one (1) elective credit for the Presentation testout.....


If that matters any....

 

[Kermit]

You're still supposed to spell out numerals from one to ten according to the Associated Press style guide, Chicago Manual of Style, and Microsoft style guide. (I used to be a tech writer and know each of those by heart. ) I think the problem is that there are so many styles out there. I wish schools would just all stick to MLA, which I believe also calls for spelling out numerals from one to ten.

 

[DocRafiki]

I never understood why people put the numeral in parentheses after the word. I mean, if they can't read and understand "seven," they probably can't read the rest of the letter either.

 

[JDY]

Okay...

zero to nine: write them out unless they are part of a measurement etc. Write out any number that begins a sentence.

seasons: no capitals unless they begin a sentence

I love grammar!

JDY - English teacher Extraordinaire

 

[browneyes]

Sandy, throw away the book, and consult with Jdy instead. I like Jdy's answers better anyway-that book sounds too confusing.

 

[GEM]

Seasons aren't capitalized unless they begin a sentence. As far as I know, the names of seasons were never supposed to be capitalized. At least that's the way we always learned it from elementary school up through advanced comp in college. I don't belive that's changed.

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by DocRafiki
I never understood why people put the numeral in parentheses after the word. I mean, if they can't read and understand "seven," they probably can't read the rest of the letter either.

LOL!

 

[Pin Wizard]

Originally posted by browneyes
Sandy, throw away the book, and consult with Jdy instead. I like Jdy's answers better anyway-that book sounds too confusing.

I'd love to stick to spelling one through ten and writing higher numbers as numerals. However, in my paper on MLK's I Have a Dream speech, I got a 98 because I put down 100 in two places rather than spelling out one hundred. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!