Office of Communications

Dates, Numbers, Time

In General

Spell out numbers one to nine. Use numerals for 10 and above. Exceptions to that rule are: percentages, decimals, credit hours, GPAs, book sections and pages, quantities that combine whole numbers, fractions, and when symbols are used rather than abbreviations for units of measure. Use figures for age, equipment specifications and page numbers.

Right: She took 12 SCH the second semester, while maintaining a 3.8 GPA and devoting 25 percent of her time to a part-time job.

The word percent should be used in formal text Use the percent sign in tables, charts, scientific and statistical copy and occasionally for informal or promotional copy.

Dates

The United States preference for styling dates is month, day and year without the ordinal numbers. Spell out the name of the month when using it alone or with a year alone. If you are using only a month and year, do not separate with commas. When using a phrase with a month, date and year, set both the date and year off with commas. Do not use suffixes with dates, e.g., Feb. 14th, April 10th.

• Right: I expect to arrive January 2003.
• Right: I expect to arrive January 1, 2003.
• Wrong: I expect to arrive January 1st, 2003.

When a month is used with a specific date, it is used as follows (note that some months are abbreviated):

Jan. 1 Feb. 1 March 1 April 1

Fractions

Spell out fractions less than one. Use hyphens between words. Use figures for amounts larger than one and convert to decimals when appropriate.

• Right: one-half, one-third, three-fourths
• Right: 7.5 gallons

Money

Use the dollar sign and numbers. Do not use a decimal and two zeros for even dollar amounts.

• Right: $100
• Right: $100.50
• Wrong: $100.00

Exception: For even dollar amounts listed in tables, graphs and charts, it is appropriate to list zeroes in the tens and hundreds decimal places if other dollar figures in the table, graph or chart show cents.

Example:

1998	1999	2000	2001
$80.95	$90.01	$100.00	$120.30

Use a comma for dollar amounts in the thousands.

• Right: $1,000
• Wrong: $1000

Use a combination of numerals and words to represent numbers in the millions and larger.

• Right: $20 million
• Wrong: $20,000,000

Spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence.

• Right: Fifty-five percent of the class attended the lecture.

International

• Currency
  When writing for an international audience, note the form of currency that is being specified (USD, EUR, MXN). Monetary conversion charts and the correct currency abbreviations can be found online at: http://www.xe.com/ucc/
  
  Right: The rent was approximately USD 835 per month.

• Measurements
  Metric equivalents should be included parenthetically when specifying dimensions such as weight, speed or distance. A conversion chart can be found at: http://www.sciencemadesimple.net/conversions.html
  
  Right: The average temperature for the area is 75°F (23.9°C).
  Right: The apartments are located 2 miles (3.2 km) from campus.

• Dates
  European dates are generally styled by date, month and year (3 January 2003). To avoid international confusion, do not state dates exclusively in numerical terms (1/03/03).

Telephone

Now that local telephone numbers require the use of the area code, it is included as a standard part of the number. Consequently, a hyphen is now preferred to parentheses between the area code and number.

• Right: 972-123-4567
• Wrong: (972) 123-4567

Time

Use lowercase with periods for a.m. and p.m. When writing a time that falls on the hour, do not use zeros. Use noon and midnight in place of 12:00 p.m. and 12:00 a.m. Times of day in even, half and quarter hours are usually spelled out in text: The concert began at six o’clock.

Military Time

Military time is divided into 24 hours. There is no a.m./p.m.

0001 = 12:01 a.m.
0100 = 1 a.m.	1300 = 1 p.m.
0200 = 2 a.m.	1400 = 2 p.m.
0300 = 3 a.m.	1500 = 3 p.m.
0400 = 4 a.m.	1600 = 4 p.m.
0500 = 5 a.m.	1700 = 5 p.m.
0600 = 6 a.m.	1800 = 6 p.m.
0700 = 7 a.m.	1900 = 7 p.m.
0800 = 8 a.m.	2000 = 8 p.m.
0900 = 9 a.m.	2100 = 9 p.m.
1000 = 10 a.m.	2200 = 10 p.m.
1100 = 11 a.m.	2300 = 11 p.m.
1200 = Noon	0000 = Midnight