Writing for Grammar: Using Numbers

Most writers chose this profession because their word skills were greater than their mathematical abilities. Nevertheless, numbers in our business are important.

Here are a few guidelines:

• Numbers nine and below are written in words: seven
• Numbers 10 and above are written in figures: 17
• The above two rules hold for cardinal (seven, 17), ordinal (seventh, 17th), and centuries (seventh century, 17th century).
• Huge numbers of a million or more, such as your annual investment returns, are spelled: seven million, 17 million
• Money is preceded by a dollar sign even though it is read in a different order: $17 million (17 million dollars).
• All numbers that begin a sentence are spelled out: Seventeen blue jays baked in a cake.
• Even when a number is written in figures, it is read as words and preceded by the proper article (“a” or “an”): a $17 ticket, an $18 ticket

Here's a mind-reading trick with numbers.

• Choose a number between one and nine
• Multiply it by nine
• Add the first and last digits
• Subtract five
• Now, assuming A=1, B=2, etc., choose a country with the first letter starting with the corresponding letter of your number.
• Finally, choose an animal to ride that starts with the next letter in the alphabet.

Next time I'll try to guess what you are riding and where.