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Version 1.1.2 - July, 2008
Numbers
General Usage
Although CMS recommends spelling out numbers up to 100, for the sake of consistency with AP users spell out only numbers one through nine and general numbers in text.
- There are seven ways to do this.
- She has 47 students in her class.
- There are a million reasons to disagree.
When two or more numbers apply to the same category in a paragraph or a series, don't use figures for some and text for others. Instead, use all figures.
- There are 20 sections to Dante's work, 15 are set in the first sequence, and 5 in the latter.
Express all percentages as figures and do not use % unless in tabular form.
For very large numbers, use a combination of initial number followed by denomination.
- $1.8 million; 15 million people
- Dartmouth received a $10 million gift.
Telephone numbers include the area code in parentheses.
Time of day is designated by using a colon and zeroes for whole hours when space allows. Shorten to just the whole hour where space is limited.
- standard: 9:00 a.m., 6:00 p.m.
- short: 7 p.m., 6 a.m.
- noon, midnight (not 12 p.m. or 12 a.m.)
Dates
Months and years
Use cardinal, not ordinal numbers, unless the date is used in a subsequent reference without a month. Always spell out months and use a comma before and after a year in a full month but not with just the year.
- March 5 (not March 5th)
- On the 5th we will rewrite this article.
- March 7, 2005, was a special day.
- March 2005 was colder than usual.
Decades
Formal usage is 1970s, 1980s, 1990s. Informal is '70s, '80s, '90s. Note the use of an apostrophe as opposed to a left-hand single quote.
Only spell out the decade when referring to a specific age or groups.
- She is in her seventies.
- Members of the Eighties Generation were very ambitious.
Centuries
Although CMS recommends spelling out specific centuries, for consistency with AP usage, abbreviate centuries after 10.
- first century
- 21st century
Periods of time
To specify a period of time, use an en-dash (option-hypen in Mac; ALT + 0150 in PC) unless from or between introduces it, in which case to or and are more appropriate.
- October 15-17
- 1945-47
- He was class officer from 1978 to 1999.
- The library is open between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
Temperature
For whole numbers spell out "degrees" rather than using a º except when used in tables or in reference to scientific measurements. Exception: zero degrees. Use Fahrenheit or Celsius only when it would be confusing not to.
- It is 86 degrees outside today.
- Her fever is 101.5ºF.
- It's in the 70s in here.
Other units of measurement
Use numbers with all units of measurement:
- John is 6-feet, 7-inches tall.
- The tree weighs 1,000 pounds.
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