Numbers

(1) Introduction

In business and technical writing, numbers form a major part of our written texts. Therefore, it is important to bear in mind a few elementary rules of style that we teach in TriEnglish, which will help to ensure both consistency and clarity when using written numbers.

• Numbers below ‘ten’ should be written out in words. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule:
  1. page numbers
  2. units of measurement
  There are three ways to generate revenue
  Page 6 outlines the main steps that need to be taken
  The device has a 4-inch screen and weighs only 9 ounces
• If a sentence begins with a number, write out the number in words:
  Thirty-five people have been interviewed for the position of CFO this month
• If this feels awkward or unnatural, then revise the sentence:
  This month we have interviewed 35 people for the position of CFO
• If you need to use lots of complex numbers, put them in list-form to make them easier to read, for example:
  1. 2691
  2. 4378
  3. 1892
  4. 6581
• Use the following convention when you write dates. Be consistent in using it:
  Until the 7^th of May 2010 the supply of bananas will be uncertain in some areas

(2) Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers

Numbers that express quantity, “three secretaries”, “500 branches” are written and pronounced as ‘cardinal numbers’ (see left of chart below). When you need to express the sequence or order of an event, remember to use ‘ordinal numbers, (see right of chart below). We use ordinal numbers for dates*, comparative results, gradings and league tables. (*for variations of date-writing styles, see below)

Exercise (see answers below)
Write down the following numbers:

a. The thirtieth of June
b. Three point one four two
c. Four oh six, three double-nine
d. One thousand two hundred and three
e. Nineteen thirty-nine
f. Ninety
g. The nineteenth century
h. Seven and a half percent
i. Eleven forty five
j. Four thousand nine hundred and two

Answer key:
a. the 30^th of June b. 3.142 c. 406399 d. 1,203 e. 1939 f. 90 g. the 19^th century h. 7.5% i. 1145 j. 4,902

(3) Writing Dates

European and American styles of date writing are quite different and you need to pay attention in order to avoid confusion in transatlantic communication:

• In the US, the 1^st day of April is written as 4/1/2010.
• To a European, this looks like the 4^th day of January.
• The Americans place the month before the day.
• In Europe, April Fools Day is written as 1.4.2010.
• To avoid this confusion, write out the date as April 1^st 2010.

(4) Prefixes expressing numbers

Here are two lists of prefixes expressing numbers. One list comes from Latin and the other from Greek. What words do you know that begin with these prefixes?