Business English at Work © 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill

Business English at Work Numbers Objectives PP 18-1a continued Identify appropriate times to use words versus figures in expressing numbers. Differentiate between cardinal and ordinal numbers. Use numbers with addresses, ages, and dates correctly. Use numbers in decimals, fractions, measurements, identification numbers, and financial quotes correctly. continued

Business English at Work Numbers Objectives PP 18-1b continued Use numbers in amounts of money and percentages correctly. Use numbers in political divisions, publications, ratios, titles, inclusive sets of figures, and sizes correctly. Use numbers in telephone numbers, temperatures, time, and time periods correctly.

Business English at Work Numbers Numbers 1-10; Numbers Over 10 PP 18-2 Use words to express numbers one through ten. I had two problems downloading the software from the Internet. Use figures to express numbers over ten. The online drugstore delivers 200 prescriptions a day.

Business English at Work Numbers Approximate Numbers PP 18-3 Express approximate numbers from one through ten in words. About five online booksellers are profitable. Express approximate numbers over ten in figures. More than 50 dry cleaners have Web pages.

Business English at Work Numbers Related Numbers PP 18-4a Adopt a consistent style for writing related numbers in a sentence. When related numbers, both above and below 10 are used in the same sentence, express all related numbers in figures. Do not express numbers ten and below in figures if the other numbers in the sentence are not related.

Business English at Work Numbers Related Numbers PP 18-4b Examples continued The Gap recently hired 5 sales associates in Littleton, 3 in Anchorage, and 12 in San Francisco. Out of the 20 self-appraisal evaluations distributed, only 5 were returned by the deadline. Even though we have over 800 employees, we only employ 2 people in public relations.

Business English at Work Numbers Cardinal and Ordinal Numbers PP 18-5 Write cardinal numbers as follows: onetwotwelvetwenty-five Write ordinal numbers as follows. The ordinal numbers are used to show the order of succession. firstsecondtwelfthtwenty-fifth

Business English at Work Numbers Commas in Numbers PP 18-6a Use commas to set off a whole number with five or more digits in three-digit groups beginning at the right. 13,987243,7887,893,283 Omit the comma in a whole number with only four digits

Business English at Work Numbers Commas in Numbers Use the comma if a number with only four digits is used in conjunction with numbers of five digits or more; for example, in a column. 1,875 15,620 3,000 continued PP 18-6b

Business English at Work Numbers Abbreviations Use figures with abbreviations. No. 2 pencilBldg. 11 Fig mph 3 in2/10,n/30 20 m15 gal PP 18-7

Business English at Work Numbers House and Building Numbers Write house and building numbers in figures except for those identified as One. Do not use commas in house or building numbers. 135 Alana WayBuilding 119B 1821 ½ Lakeville11422 Old Redwood Road One Ward Parkway PP 18-8

Business English at Work Numbers Street Addresses Use words (ordinal format) to express street names that contain the numbers Sixth Street 3902 Tenth Street PP 18-9 Use figures (ordinal format) to express numbered street names above th Street3489 South 73d Avenue

Business English at Work Numbers Highway Numbers/ZIP Codes Use figures to identify highway numbers. Pacific Coast Highway 1Interstate 10 Route 66Old County Route 13 PP Use figures for all ZIP Codes. Do not use commas with ZIP Codes. Redding, CA 96001Buffalo, NY

Business English at Work Numbers Miscellaneous Address Numbers Use figures for suite numbers, mailstop codes, post office box numbers, and addresses. Suite 105, Tribune Building P.O. Box 3879 or Post Office Box 3879 MSC 38 PP 18-11

Business English at Work Numbers Age/Precise Age Use words to indicate general age. My son was six when he started using the Internet. People in their seventies typically do not trade stocks online. PP Use figures to express age when the age appears immediately after the person’s name or when the age is expressed in years, months, and days. Adam Carston, 31, is our Webmaster. The average length of employment for our staff is 5 years 3 months.

Business English at Work Numbers Legal Age Use figures to express legal age. You may receive a provisional driving permit if you are under 18 but at least 15 years of age. If you were born before 1938 and you meet all other requirements, you can receive social security benefits beginning with the first full month you are age 62. PP 18-13

Business English at Work Numbers Emphasis on Age Use figures to emphasize age in general correspondence. The survey of 8- to 10-year old boys indicated that they like scooters, skateboards, and mountain bikes. PP 18-14

Business English at Work Numbers Anniversaries and Birthdays Spell out ordinal numbers to express anniversaries that contain one or two words. (A hyphenated ordinal number counts as one word.) Use ordinal numbers in figures to express anniversaries that contain more than two words. the company’s fifth anniversary Julie’s twenty-fifth birthday the city’s 125th anniversary PP 18-15

Business English at Work Numbers Adjacent Numbers Use a comma to separate adjacent numbers in a sentence when both figures are numbers or both are words. By the year 2005, 75 percent of American households will have computers. PP 18-16

Business English at Work Numbers Beginning of a Sentence Use words to express numbers that begin a sentence. Use hyphens with the numbers 21 through 99 expressed in words. Reword the sentence if the beginning number consists of more than two words A hyphenated word counts as one word. Seventy-three orders were the result of our Web banner advertisements. PP 18-17

Business English at Work Numbers Consecutive Numbers Generally, use words for the first number in consecutive numbers when one of the two numbers is part of a compound modifier. Four 35-cent stampsfive 10-page reports PP Use figures for the first of the consecutive numbers if the second number is shorter than the first when written out. 300 first-time orders67 one-page memos

Business English at Work Numbers Months, Days, and Years Use cardinal numbers to express dates in month- day, month-year, or month-day-year order. Use commas to separate the year from the month and day. PP All entries must be postmarked by June 30, 2002, to be eligible for the drawing. Do not use commas to separate a month and year when used without the day. The October 2002 issue is about e-commerce.

Business English at Work Numbers Military and Foreign Use cardinal numbers to express dates associated with military or foreign correspondence. Write dates in day, month, year sequence. Do not separate with commas. PP July December 2003

Business English at Work Numbers Days Before Month, Days Alone PP Use ordinal numbers when the day comes before the month or stands alone and the emphasis in the sentence is on the figure. Use ordinal words when the purpose of the writing is more formal. The intent of the sentence determines the use of figures or words. Our online site will be available by the 5th of February. We anticipate an answer by the 31st. You are cordially invited to our first anniversary celebration on the first day of March 2003.

Business English at Work Numbers Legal Documents PP Use ordinal numbers to express dates appearing in legal documents. April nineteenth or the nineteenth day of April WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and seal the twenty-third day of September, in the year two thousand two.

Business English at Work Numbers Decades and Centuries PP Use words or figures to express decades. the 1980sthe eightiesthe ’80s during the years Use words or figures to express centuries. the 1900sthe twenty-first century

Business English at Work Numbers Writing Decimals, Using Zeros PP Use figures to express decimals Place a zero before the decimal point if the decimal appears by itself

Business English at Work Numbers Aligning Figures, Financial Quotes PP Align figures at the decimal point. Add a zero or zeros at the end of a decimal to justify a column of figures on the right Use figures to express financial quotes. Our company stock was up 3/8 and closed at 67.

Business English at Work Numbers Fractions PP Use words to express fractions that stand alone. Use a hyphen between the numerator (top number in a fraction) and denominator (bottom number in a fraction). one-half of our online orders one-third of the questions one-fourth of a newsletter

Business English at Work Numbers Fractions in Measurements PP 18-27a Use figures to express fractions in measurements. Do not use an “of” phrase after fractions written in figures. Write out the fraction in words if an “of” phrase must follow the fraction. Do not use st, ds, or ths after fractions expressed in numbers.

Business English at Work Numbers Fractions in Measurements PP 18-27b Examples continued 1/8 ounceorone-eighth of an ounce 1/2 poundorone-half of a pound

Business English at Work Numbers Fractions in Whole Numbers PP Use figures when a fraction is written with a whole number. Do not use a hyphen between the whole number and the fraction. 3 ½ hours early 7 ¼ pages

Business English at Work Numbers Identification Numbers PP Use figures to identify forms or items such as form numbers, model numbers, serial numbers, policy numbers, and invoice numbers. Do not use commas to separate the digits. The abbreviation No. is not necessary with most items identified by number if the item is preceded by a descriptive noun. Form 1060Model 389-Z3 Policy Item C Invoice 4783Chapter XI

Business English at Work Numbers Indefinite Numbers PP Use words to express indefinite numbers and amounts. Indefinite numbers are not easily counted or determined. many hundreds of ordersdozens of calls several thousand requestshundreds of dollars a few hundred responsesmillions of people

Business English at Work Numbers Large Numbers PP Use a combination of figures and words to express numbers in the millions or above. If several large numbers appear in a sentence, be consistent in the format. One company decided to send 6,000 advertisements after estimating that at least 1,300,000 people have accounts. 2 billion people1.3 million users

Business English at Work Numbers Measurements PP Use figures (including the numbers 1 through 10) to express measurements used in a technical sense. These measurements include items such as yards, inches, feet, acres, pounds, ounces, gross, dozen, gallons, quarts, computer measurements, and miles. Do not use a comma to separate a measurement that consists of two parts. 15 yards (yd) 8 pounds 3 ounces 10 quarts (qt) 12 dozen (doz)1.5 gigabytes (GB)23 miles (mi)

Business English at Work Numbers Dimensions PP Use figures to express dimensions. 15- by 20-foot storage areaa storage area 15 by 20 feet or 15- X 20-foot storage area a room 12 X 15 feet 12’ X 15’ room or a room 12’ X 15’

Business English at Work Numbers Metric Measurements PP Use figures to express metric measurements. Use a space to mark off groups of three digits. a trip of 210 km (kilometers) about 35 kg (kilograms) a distance of m (meters)

Business English at Work Numbers Amounts of Money Above $1 PP Use figures to express amounts of money over $1. Do not use a decimal point or zeros after even dollar amounts within a sentence. $3.76$15.38$382.90$34, $30$5000about $60,000 The online order includes $1000 plus the sales tax of $80 for a total of $1080.

Business English at Work Numbers Amounts of Money in Columns PP Use zeros with even dollar amounts in a column of figures in which the other amounts contain cents. $

Business English at Work Numbers Foreign Money PP Generally, place the abbreviated identification of foreign money before the amount. DM1000 (German marks) NKr1000 (Norwegian kroner)

Business English at Work Numbers Large Amounts of Money PP Combine figures and words to express amounts of money of $1 million or more. Use the dollar sign or the word dollars but do not use both with one figure. PreferredAcceptable $3 millionor3 million dollars $6 1/2 millionor6 1/2 million dollars $7.5 millionor7.5 million dollars

Business English at Work Numbers Related Amounts of Money, Amounts of Money Less Than $1 PP Keep related amounts of money in the same format. Our former building cost $2,000,000; however, we paid $3,800,000 for our new building. Use figures to express amounts below $1. Spell out the word cents after the amount. The cost of mailing the brochure was 75 cents. The 5-cent discount did not interest many customers.

Business English at Work Numbers Cents in a Series, Range of Amounts of Money PP Do not use the dollar sign with an amount less than $1 unless it appears in a series or in a table in which the other figures require dollar signs. The costs of mailing the packets were: $4.38,.55, $14, and $7.39. Repeat the dollar sign or cent sign with each amount when a range of prices is expressed. Do not repeat the word dollars or cents with each amount. in the $15,000 to $20,000 range a decrease from 15 to 10 cents

Business English at Work Numbers Amounts of Money in Legal Documents PP Use words to express amounts of money in legal or formal documents. Write the amount in figures, and place it in parentheses after the written expression. Use the word and before the cents in written expressions of money. Two Hundred Thousand Dollars ($200,000) One Thousand Three Hundred Thirty-five and 37/100 Dollars ($1,335.37).

Business English at Work Numbers Exact and Approximate Percentages, Series of Percentages PP Use figures to express exact or approximate percentages. Write the word percent after the number. 0.8 percent 15 percent 7.2 percent 5 ½ percent Nearly 55 percentover 75 percent Write the word percent only at the end of the last number in a sentence with several percentages listed. We receive discounts of 10, 20, and 30 percent from Wolfard & Company.

Business English at Work Numbers Political Divisions, Publications PP Use words to identify political subdivisions such as congressional districts or precincts. Tenth District representative First Precinct election returns Use figures to express pages, paragraphs, chapters, lines, and verses in publications. Do not capitalize the words page, line, verse, or paragraph before the numbers. page 25, line 3paragraphs 34-43

Business English at Work Numbers Ratios PP Use figures to express ratios. 2-to-1 ratio or a 2:1 ratio

Business English at Work Numbers Roman Numerals in Outlines and Reports PP Use roman numerals to subdivide items on outlines or reports. Align roman numerals at the right in an outline or list. Place a period after the numeral. I. WORKING WITH EXCEL GRAPHICS II. WORKING WITH LISTS AND DATABASES III. ANALYZING INFORMATION

Business English at Work Numbers Roman Numerals as Literary Divisions, As Lowercase PP Use roman numerals to indicate the major parts of complete literary works such as volumes or chapters. Volume XIVChapter V Use lowercase roman numerals to indicate page numbers in prefaces or in other materials that precede text materials. Please check page iii at the beginning of our catalog for more information about our shipping policies.

Business English at Work Numbers Seniority Titles PP Use roman numerals for seniority titles. Do not set aside seniority titles with commas. Daniel Russell IIorDaniel Russell 2d Mark Robbins IIIorMark Robbins 3d

Business English at Work Numbers Inclusive Figures PP 18-48a Do not shorten the second number in an inclusive set of figures unless page numbers or dates are used frequently in a document. pages (frequent use) or pages (general use) Do not shorten inclusive numbers under 100. pages 47-57

Business English at Work Numbers Inclusive Figures PP 18-48b Do not shorten the second number when the second number begins with a digit that is different from the first number. pages Do not use a shortened form for the second number in any situation in which the first number ends in two or more zeros. pages continued

Business English at Work Numbers Size, Symbols PP Use figures to express size. Do not capitalize the word size when it appears before the number. My wrist requires a size 6 wrist support. Use figures with symbols. $25 (6 items at $25 each) #2 pencil (Number 2)

Business English at Work Numbers Domestic Telephone Numbers PP Use figures for most telephone numbers. If a company uses combinations of letters and numbers or all words, follow the company’s exact format. Use diagonals, parentheses, periods, or hyphens to separate the area code from the rest of the number. 515/ (515)

Business English at Work Numbers International Telephone Numbers PP Use figures for international telephone numbers. Separate the international access codes, country codes, city codes, and telephone numbers with hyphens

Business English at Work Numbers Extensions, Temperature PP Use figures to identify an extension. Spell out Extension or abbreviate it (Ext.) , Extension 3964 or , Ext Use figures to express temperatures. Do not space between the number and the degree symbol or between the symbol and C (Celsius) or F (Fahrenheit). 55 degrees55 degrees Fahrenheit 55°F 100°C

Business English at Work Numbers Time With a.m. and p.m PP Use figures with a.m. and p.m. Do not space within a.m. or within p.m. Do not use the word o’clock with a.m. and p.m. Our office closes at 5 p.m. Omit the colon and zeros with times that do not involve minutes (even when other expressions of time in the sentence include minutes). Our office opens at 7:30 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m.

Business English at Work Numbers Time with the Word O’clock and in Time Phrases PP Use figures with o’clock to emphasize time. Use words with o’clock to set a formal tone; for example, in social invitations. 1 o’clockorone o’clock Do not use the expressions in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, or at night with a.m. or p.m. Our office opens at 8 o’clock in the morning.

Business English at Work Numbers Time With Noon and Midnight PP Express the terms noon and midnight in words. If other times in a sentence are written in figures, use 12 noon or 12 midnight. We are planning an informal luncheon at noon. We are planning an informal luncheon from 12 noon to 1:15 p.m.

Business English at Work Numbers General Time Periods/Business- Related Time Periods PP Use words to express general time periods such as years, months, weeks, and days except when the time period requires more than two words. During the past two years, we have increased our use of temporary employees. Our business is open 365 days a year. Use numbers to indicate a time period associated with payroll periods, discounts, and interest payments. We have a 3-year lease on this copy machine. The 10-year lease for our offices will expire next year.

Business English at Work © 2003 Glencoe/McGraw-Hill End of