Place Numbers Article For Free

Numbers can be written either as words (e.g., one hundred) or numerals (e.g., 100). In this article we follow the guidelines of APA Style, one of the most common style guides used in academic writing. In general, words should be used for numbers from zero through nine, and numerals should be used from 10 onwards.

How to write numbers in a paragraph. Spell out whole-number words for one to ten; use figures for numbers above ten. EXAMPLE: There were two people ahead of me, and six behind me. EXAMPLE: I need to buy Christmas presents for 12 people this year.

Numbers up to and including ten should be spelled out in full. Numbers after and including 11 should be written using numerals. Very large numbers should be written by combining a figure and a word such as million or billion. Fractions should generally be written in full and hyphenated in prose.

For example, the APA style guide recommends writing small numbers from one to nine in figures and then writing the further numbers in words. On the other hand, the Chicago Manual recommends writing numbers from one to hundred in figures and using words for numbers beyond that.

A simple rule for using numbers in writing is that small numbers ranging from one to ten (or one to nine, depending on the style guide) should generally be spelled out. Larger numbers (i.e., above ten) are written as numerals.

Numbers up to nine should always be written in words, anything higher than nine can be written in numerals. Alternatively, some guides suggest that if you can write the number in two words or fewer then use words rather than numerals.

The general rule regarding the use of numbers is to use words to express numbers in one or two words (i.e., one, five, thirty-six, ninety-nine, one hundred, etc.) and represent other numbers by numerals (MLA, 98).

MLA suggests spelling out numbers that can be written in one or two words. If the number is longer than one or two words, use numerals. If your paper requires frequent use of numbers, simply use numerals for all the numbers, especially for those preceding technical units of measurement.

Numbers between 1 and 9 should be spelled out (in MLA style). When the writing sample uses numbers infrequently, or if APA style is followed, numbers between 1 and 100 should also be spelled out. If two or more related numbers are used in a sentence, one below 10 and one a bigger number, their use should be consistent.

MLA Style spells out numbers that can be written in one or two words (three, fifteen, seventy-six, one thousand, twelve billion) and to use numerals for other numbers (2¾; 584; 1,001; 25,000,000).