How to write numbers, figures, dates and times - Emphasis

How to write numbers, figures, dates and times How to write numbers, figures, dates and times How good are you at watching your figures? These can be a crucial part of your document and the more clearly you express them, the better. Here are our guidelines for expressing time, money, statistics, data, dates and anything else involving numbers: 1. Write out numbers one to ten in words. 2. Use figures for 11 and above. 3. Avoid mixing words and figures in the same phrase. For example: You can order in multiples of 9, 12 or 16, not nine, 12 or 16. 4. Always use figures in data if decimals or fractions are involved: 6.25 or 6 1/4. 5. Write ordinals (first, second, third etc) in full, not 1st, 2nd, 3rd. 6. Write fractions in full and hyphenate them in the body of text eg two-thirds of the class. 7. Write thousands as 60,000, not 60K. 8. Use a comma for tens of thousands or more: 9000; 12,000; 50,000. 9. Write millions as 60 million or 60m, not 60,000,000. 10. File sizes should always be written as abbreviations eg 45Kb, or 1.8Mb. 11. A billion is a thousand million (1,000,000,000), not a million million. Write billions as 6 billion or 6bn, not 6,000,000,000. 12. Use per cent in running text (as opposed to tables etc.), not the % sign. 13. Use these forms rather that the 24-hour clock: 9.30am, 12 noon, 5pm, 12 midnight. 14. Write dates in this format: 7 September 2008. 15. Use twentieth century, not 20th century. 16. When indicating time span, use from/to, between/and or X-X. But dont mix and match: use from 9am to 5pm; or between 9am and 5pm; or 9am5pm. 17. If spanning dates in the same century, drop the first two digits of the second date. But keep them if the dates span different centuries: 196769, 19992008. 18. Do not use apostrophes for collective dates: 1990s, not 1990s. A few of these are issues of style rather than hard-and-fast rules. If youre not sure, or if you still have any questions on writing numbers, leave a comment and well get back to you.