Today’s Writing Tip: Write Numbers Correctly
Sentence: 10 of the 19 participants responded similarly to the 3 questions focused on community engagement.
Edited Substance: TEN of the 19 participants responded similarly to the THREE questions focused on community engagement.
Explanation: Most style guides instruct you to spell out numbers that are less than 10 and write numbers greater than 10 in numerical format. The exception to this rule is when numbers start a sentence; regardless of their value, numbers should be written out when they start a sentence.
In the sample sentence above, the number 10 is changed to the word “ten” because it starts the sentence. Since 19 is greater than 10, it remains the same. However, the number “3” is changed to the word “three” because it is less than 10.
Be sure to check your style manual and adhere to appropriate conventions when writing numbers in your academic documents.
Until next week, Happy Writing!!! Dr. V Writing Coach-Editor-Speaker Author of I'm Not a Writer...I am Just in Graduate School
(order your copy at https://www.amazon.com/Not-Writer-Just-Graduate-School/dp/1533392919)
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