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Watching Your Figure(s)

© Janet Kay Blaylock

When should you write a number as a word (eleven) and when should you write it as a figure (11)? There are a few schools of thought on this subject. I prefer to simplify it as follows:

Write the number as a word when:

• The number is one through ten
• The number is higher than ten, but you are a professional who is writing a legal document or other super-formal document: "All representatives must refund their unhappy customers exactly seventy-eight percent of the original sales price."
• The number appears at the beginning of a sentence: "Nineteen eighty-four brought about the beginning of the Reagan era."

Write the number as a figure when:

• Stating a person's age in a sentence: "Anna, 4, will be starting preschool this year."
• Stating dimensions:"I am 5 foot 3."
• Stating a street address:"He lives at 37 Kingsmead Court."
• Stating time:"Give me a call at 7 p.m."