Rules for writers, Tenth edition - Diana Hacker, Nancy Sommers 2021

Use numerals according to convention in dates, addresses, and so on
Numbers
Mechanics

DATES July 4, 1776; 56 BCE; AD 30

ADDRESSES 77 Latches Lane, 519 West 42nd Street

PERCENTAGES 55 percent (or 55%)

FRACTIONS, DECIMALS ⅞, 0.047

SCORES 7 to 3, 21—18

STATISTICS average age 37, average weight 180

SURVEYS 4 out of 5

EXACT AMOUNTS OF MONEY $105.37, $106,000

DIVISIONS OF BOOKS volume 3, chapter 4, page 189

DIVISIONS OF PLAYS act 3, scene 3 (or act III, scene iii)

TIME OF DAY 4:00 p.m., 1:30 a.m.

NOTE: When not using a.m. or p.m., write out the time in words (two o’clock in the afternoon, twelve noon, seven in the morning).

EXERCISE 42-1

Edit the following sentences to correct errors in the use of numbers. If a sentence is correct, write “correct” after it. Answers appear in the back of the book.

a. The carpenters located 3 maple timbers, 21 sheets of cherry, and 10 oblongs of polished ebony for the theater set.

b. The program’s cost is well over one billion dollars.

c. The score was tied at 5—5 when the momentum shifted and carried the Standards to a decisive 12—5 win.

d. 8 students in the class signed up for tutoring.

e. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC, had fifty-eight thousand one hundred thirty-two names inscribed on it when it was dedicated in 1982.