{"id":68,"date":"2020-11-17T05:37:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-17T13:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/?page_id=68"},"modified":"2022-06-30T13:48:14","modified_gmt":"2022-06-30T20:48:14","slug":"numbers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/numbers\/","title":{"rendered":"Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<header \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-article-header\" \n\t\t\t>\n\t<h1 class=\"wsu-c-article-header__title\"><\/h1>\n\t\t<div class=\"wsu-c-article-header__subtitle\">\n\t\tWSU Editorial Style Guide\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/header>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Numbers below 10 are spelled out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li><strong>Exception<\/strong>: Percentages, semester hours, and grade point averages.<ul><li>10 percent, 3 semester hours, 3.5 grade point average (unless the number begins a sentence).<\/li><li>Enrollment increased by 25 percent. Twenty-five percent of the students were over the age of 20.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>Exception<\/strong>: It is sometimes better to use numerals in ads, posters, and websites for ease of reading.<\/li><li>Treat numbers alike in a sentence if they refer to the same thing: \u201cThe class of 150 students was separated into smaller groups of 4 students each.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Use \u201cmore than\u201d rather than \u201cover\u201d with numerals.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>\u201cEnrollment is more than 18,000 students.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tNumbers at beginning of sentences\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Always spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence or reword the sentence to avoid spelling out a large number.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tOrdinal numbers\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Spell out ordinals in text.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>first<\/li><li>second<\/li><li>tenth<\/li><li>Not 1st, 2nd, 3rd<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>When ordinal numbers are needed (as in rankings), do not use superscript letters.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>\u201cThe program is ranked 16th in the nation\u201d (not 16<sup>th<\/sup>).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Ordinals are never needed with months and days.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>\u201cOn May 2, the program began\u201d (not \u201cOn May 2nd\u201d).<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tNumbers of four digits or larger\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Use a comma for larger numbers.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>1,500<\/li><li>35,000<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Very large, round numbers should be expressed with a figure and word.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>450 million<\/li><li>$2 billion<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Exceptions:<\/strong>&nbsp;Dates (1892), temperatures (-1200 degrees), and test scores<\/p>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tDecimals and fractions\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>List decimals and fractions in figures.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>1.25<\/li><li>2\/3<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>In some cases, a fraction may be spelled out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>\u201cThe professor covered about two-thirds of the chapter during the class.\u201d<\/li><li>Note that hyphens are used when spelling out fractions.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tTime\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Figures plus a.m. or p.m. (lowercase with periods) are used to designate time in both text and schedules.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\">In many informal contexts, a shortened form is fine. But in some cases, it\u2019s better to use the full time. Readability and comprehension are the guiding factors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>\u201cThe lecture will begin at 10 a.m. with a luncheon to follow at noon.\u201d<\/li><li>Meeting: 5 p.m.<\/li><li>The event will be held from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m.<\/li><li>Note that \u201cnoon\u201d is lowercase and is not used with 12:00.<\/li><li>Very formal or ceremonial contexts may be best served by using a spelled-out format:<br>Dinner will be served at six o\u2019clock in the evening.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tPlurals of numbers\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>List plurals by adding an \u201cs.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>5s<\/li><li>20s<\/li><li>1980s<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tCenturies and decades\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Spell out centuries and decades where possible.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>fifteenth century<\/li><li>the sixties<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>If using figures, they should have an \u201cs\u201d at the end.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>1960s<\/li><li>\u201960s<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tTelephone numbers\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Write telephone numbers with a hyphen after the area code<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>509-335-3518<\/li><li>Do not use a 1 to precede the area code: 800-335-3518<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n<hr \n\tclass=\"wsu-c-separator\" \n\t\t\t\/>\n\n\n<h2 \n\t class=\"wsu-c-heading\"\t\t\t>\n\t\t\tNumbers between -1 and 1\t<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Use plural, not singular, for fractional numbers less than 1.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wsu-m-list--separated\"><li>0.4 miles, not 0.4 mile<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Numbers below 10 are spelled out. Exception: Percentages, semester hours, and grade point averages. 10 percent, 3 semester hours, 3.5 grade point average (unless the number begins a sentence). Enrollment increased by 25 percent. Twenty-five percent of the students were over the age of 20. Exception: It is sometimes better to use numerals in ads, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1342,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"wsuwp_university_category":[],"wsuwp_university_location":[],"wsuwp_university_org":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1342"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":169,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/68\/revisions\/169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_category?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_location?post=68"},{"taxonomy":"wsuwp_university_org","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ucomm.wsu.edu\/editorial-style-guide\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wsuwp_university_org?post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}