Writing Numbers

Welcome back.

In this final grammar section I’m going to show you how you have to write the numbers when you’re writing

your essay so let’s start off with numbers that are 10 and below so whenever you have a number that

is between the numbers 0 and 9 you have to spell them out meaning that you have to actually write out

the numbers in the English letters.

So here’s an example of a sentence in its correct version.

The sentence reads.

It was found that four out of ten students failed.

Note that here the number four is less than 10.

So for that reason we have to spell it out.

However if you’re talking about the number 10 then you have to write the number in the numeric format.

OK so we only spelled the numbers that are between 0 and 9.

Now let’s look at another example.

This time we have an incorrect sentence.

This sentence reads she has four sisters aged six eight 13 and 17.

Note that here we have some numbers that are spelled out in the English letters whereas other numbers

are written in the numeric format.

So that’s why this sentence is incorrect because whenever we have a list it is best to write the numbers

numerically.

So here’s what the correct version of this list would look like all the numbers that are in the list.

6 8 13 and 17 have to be written down numerically whereas if a number is not in a list such as the number

four over here then you have to spell it out in the English letters.

Now let’s talk about numbers that are 10 and above in this case you have to write the numbers that are

10 and above in numerals in the numeric format.

OK the only exception to this rule is if these numbers appear at the start of a sentence.

So let’s see some examples here.

We have an example where the number 10 or above appears in the middle of a sentence note that the number

60 is above 10 and appearing in the middle of a sentence in this case we have to write this number in

the numeric format.

Let’s see another example in this case the number 70 which is greater than 10 appears at the beginning

of the sentence and therefore it has to be spelled out in the English letters.

But if a number above 10 does not appear at the beginning of a sentence then we have to write it in

the numeric format.

Now let’s talk about how to write numbers when you’re discussing time.

Generally speaking we use numerals to discuss times of the day.

Another point that I want to make about discussing times is that any of these formats for writing AM

or PM are correct.

So you can write AM or PM like this.

You can also write em and PM like this with the dots in between.

Or you can write a.m. and p.m. like this in lowercase letters with the dots or in just lowercase letters

without the dot.

All of these are accepted formats for writing a.m. and p.m..

Now this is how we commonly describe time.

You can say it starts at 5:00 in the morning.

So when you’re talking about 5:00 o’clock you can spell it out in the English letters or you can say

it starts at five thirty five am.

In this case we’ve used the numeric format.

You can also say it starts at 6:00 a.m. again.

We’ve used a numeric format here.

You can say it starts at 4:00 p.m. where you only mentioned the number four.

You don’t have to add the colon and 0 0 to show 4 p.m. You can just write the number 4.

Now here’s an uncommon example.

It starts at four thirty five.

We usually don’t describe time in this way.

It’s more natural to write thirty five in the numeric format.

Now when it comes to writing the AM and PM all of these different formats are accepted.

So feel free to use any of them another thing to notice is that in this example we haven’t stated if

we’re talking about four thirty five a.m. or.

Are we talking about the morning or are we talking about evening.

So make sure that you’re clear about which time you’re discussing.

If you have to describe time in your writing essay now let’s talk about writing dates.

Dates are typically written in numerals meaning you have to write them in numeric format.

Take note that when we’re talking about dates we do not use the ordinal numbers ordinal numbers are

numbers like first second third fourth fifth and so on.

We do not use these ordinal numbers when talking about dates for example.

Here is an incorrect sentence school begins on September 2nd 2019.

Notice that here we’ve used an ordinal number.

Second and that’s why the sentence is incorrect.

Here’s the correct version of the sentence.

School begins on September 2 2019.

OK so use the numerals.

Do not use the ordinal numbers.

Now let’s talk about how to describe percentages.

We write the percentages as numerals as well.

However if the percentage appears at the beginning of a sentence then we have to spell it out.

So let’s see some examples here’s an example where the percentage appears in the middle of a sentence.

In this case we have written the 63 percent as a numeral here’s another example in which the percentage

appears at the start of a sentence.

In this case we’ve spelled out the percentage 80 and one half percent.

OK so if it appears at the beginning of a sentence then it’s best to spell it out if it appears in the

middle of a sentence.

Then write it in the numeral format.

Let’s talk about fractions now generally.

We always spell out the simple fractions and when we’re spelling out these simple fractions we also

use hyphens.

Here we have an incorrect version of a sentence.

Notice that this is incorrect because we’ve written this fraction in the numeric format to correct this

sentence.

We have to spell out this fraction.

So we have to spell out the fraction in the English letters and we also have to use a hyphen.

Lastly we’re talking about decimals.

Whenever you have a decimal you should write it in the numeric format.

Also as a general rule you should try to avoid starting your sentences with the decimals.

So let’s look at an incorrect example.

Here we have an example where we’ve spelled out zero point eighty six as English words.

This is incorrect.

The correct way to write decimals is in the numeric format.

So we have to write the zero point eight six in the numeric format now as a final rule.

Whenever you are in doubt about whether or not you should spell out the number or write it in the numeric

format it’s usually best to spell out the numbers in the English letters so that concludes our video

on writing numbers.

This was also the last video on our grammar section.

In the next video we’re going to be exploring the next ingredient to writing a great essay which is

the lexical resource.

In other words vocabulary.