英语语法：180 How to Write Numbers

Grammar Girl here.

Since this is my 100th episode, it seems like a fitting time to talk about how to use numbers in sentences.

[Note: There are many exceptions to the rules about how to write numbers. These tips will point you in the right direction, but if you are serious about understanding all the rules, you need to buy a style guide such as The Chicago Manual of Style or The Associated Press Stylebook.]

 
Whether to use a numeral or to spell out a number as a word is a matter of style. For general writing, most guides agree that you should use words for the numbers one through nine, but for larger numbers the rules vary wildly from style guide to style guide. Some say to use words for the numbers one to one hundred, one to ten, any word that can be written with one or two words, and so on. Typically, people who write business or technical documents are more likely to use numerals liberally, whereas people who write less technical documents are more likely to write out the words for numbers. If someone handles numbers a different way than you do, they're probably using a different style guide, so the best advice I can give you is to pick a style and stick with it when it makes sense. (Since I used to be a technical writer, I write out the words for numbers one through nine, and use numerals for most other numbers.)

Fortunately, some rules about writing numbers are more universally agreed upon than the general rules I just told you about.

Normalization³

Let's say you’re writing about snail⁴ development--a technical subject--and you've decided⁵ on a style that says you use words for the numbers one through nine and numerals for anything bigger. If you come upon a case where you have two related numbers in the same sentence, you should write them both as numerals if you would write one as a numeral. The idea is to write them the same way when they are in the same sentence. So even though you would normally write out the word "one" if you were writing,
 
"The snail advanced one inch,"

if you added a number over nine to that sentence, then you would use numerals instead of words when you write,
 
"The snail advanced 1 inch on the first day and 12 inches on the second day."

(You'd write both 1 and 12 as a numeral.) Most style guides agree that you should break your general rule in cases like that, when doing so would make your document more internally consistent.
 
Web Bonus
 
If you have a third number that would normally be written as a word in the example sentence above, and if it isn't referring to inches, you would still write it out as a word. You only normalize to numerals if the numbers are referring to the same thing:
 
The five researchers noted⁶ that the snail advanced 1 inch on the first day and 12 inches on the second day.

Numbers Next to Each Other

Here's another one most people seem to agree on: When you are writing two numbers right next to each other, you should use words for one of them and a numeral for the other because that makes it a lot easier to read. For example, if you write,
 
"We tested 52 twelve-inch snails,"

 

you should write the number 52, but spell out twelve (or vice² versa).

Beginning of a Sentence

When you put a number at the beginning of a sentence, most sources recommend writing out the words. If the number would be ridiculously long if you wrote out the words, you should rephrase the sentence so the number doesn't come at the beginning. For example, this sentence would be hard to read if you wrote out the number:
 
Twelve thousand eight hundred forty-two people attended the parade.

 

It's better to rephrase the sentence to read something like this:
 
The parade was attended by 12,842 people.

 

The second sentence uses passive voice, which I generally discourage, but passive voice is better than writing out a humongous number and taking the risk that your readers' brains will be numb¹ by the time they get to the verb.

Some style guides make an exception to allow you to use the numeral when you're putting a year at the beginning of a sentence, but others recommend that you use words even in the case of years.

Dialogue

OK, here's a final rule that's pretty straightforward⁷. If you're writing dialogue, for example quoting someone in a magazine article or writing a conversation in fiction, spell out all the numbers. Of course, even here The Chicago Manual of Style notes that you should use numerals "if [words] begin to look silly." But the idea is that you should lean toward using words in dialogue.

There is so much more to say about numbers that I'm going to make this a two-part series. Next week I'll cover rules about writing percents, decimals, and numbers over a million.

Those of you who are long-time listeners will remember that about a year ago I picked on Scott Sigler for using comma splices⁸ in his book, Ancestor. Well he has a new book called Infected coming out next week and his punctuation⁹ has improved so much that I couldn't find any recurring¹⁰ mistakes to complain about. He's offering a free PDF version of Infected for just the next four days: March 28, 29, 30 and 31. Visit his website at scottsigler.com, download his book, and see if you can find any errors to hassle him about. Really. He loves it. (Or download the PDF directly from this link)

Questions and comments for me, Grammar Girl, go to....... or the voicemail line at 206-338-GIRL. There are a couple of Web bonuses this week, and you can read them in the full transcript¹¹ of this podcast at............, where you can find the other great shows including Money Girl, The Mighty¹² Mommy, and The Get-It-Done Guy.

That's all. Thanks for listening and helping¹³ me make it to 100 episodes.
 

1 numb   

adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木

参考例句：

• His fingers were numb with cold.他的手冻得发麻。
• Numb with cold,we urged the weary horses forward.我们冻得发僵，催着疲惫的马继续往前走。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 normalization   

n.（normalisation）正常化，标准化

参考例句：

• The visit signalled the normalization of relations between the two countries.这次访问显示两国关系已经正常化。
• He was pleased to the normalization of relationship between the police and the people.他很高兴警方和人民之间关系的正常化。

4 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

8 splices   

v.绞接( splice的第三人称单数 )；捻接（两段绳子）；胶接；粘接（胶片、磁带等）

参考例句：

• All field splices were bolted using ASTM A325 hex head bolts. 所有现场拼接都用美国材料试验协会的A325六角形头螺栓。 来自辞典例句
• A gateway splices together two different kinds of protocols. 网关可拼接两种不同的协议。 来自互联网

9 punctuation   

n.标点符号，标点法

参考例句：

• My son's punctuation is terrible.我儿子的标点符号很糟糕。
• A piece of writing without any punctuation is difficult to understand.一篇没有任何标点符号的文章是很难懂的。

10 recurring   

adj.往复的，再次发生的

参考例句：

• This kind of problem is recurring often. 这类问题经常发生。
• For our own country, it has been a time for recurring trial. 就我们国家而言，它经过了一个反复考验的时期。

11 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

12 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

13 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。