One, Two, 10, 11.....

[EvianBaby]

This may reveal my utter stupidity but can someone tell me, when you write numbers, why are numbers one to nine written as words and 10 and above written with numbers?

[ummmm]

Ten, Eleven..

See what I did? :-)

[mxyzptlk]

entirely a matter of choice

[Postdog]

Are they?

so writing 1,2, 3 etc as I do makes me abnormal!?

[NOX]

to write a number as words is correct eg.

He had to find seventy- seven seperate documents to collate.

'He had to find 77 seperate documents to collate' is really sloppy.

[EvianBaby]

Ha ha, Oh it's as simple as that!!!!

Do you know what I mean though. Say in a news article that listing names of children it will say something like, "Billy aged four, Tom aged seven and Ben aged 12".

[pa___ul3]

because it takes them that long to realise that they would have been better off just writing the numbers all along?

[NOX]

Not if it's a decent journalist ;-)

[Postdog]

So now I'm being accused of being sloppy too!

Gonna get me coat.......

[AB Editor]

Lots of places have different rules. At school I was taught to go up to twelve lettered, but begin with numbers at 13.

The Telegraph StyleBook: http://www.telegraph..../about-us/style-book/ says:

"Spell out numbers below 10: one, nine, first fourth, 17th, 123rd, 999. One million, two million, 10 million, 999 million. Give broken millions in full only when it is misleading to decimalise to two places; 2,736,123 but prefer 2.74 million. If possible leave a thin space between the number and the "million"."

http://www.telegraph....asures-and-money.html

Which appears to be the same as you.

[EvianBaby]

OK, so there isn't really any standard rule as such? More just whatever you feel like writing at the time.

[AB Editor]

I would suggest picking up the AP stylebook if you wanted a "correct" way. Each paper has its own deviances though.

Much like some grammar and spelling deviations it's usually bad form to pick someone up on this sort of thing.

[EvianBaby]

I'm the last person that should be picking people up on their spelling and grammar. :)

I was just intrigued really. I don't remember being taught anything specific at school about this.

[rowanwitch]

Agree Ed... as one never knows if the person is dyslexic, poorly educated, does not have english as a first language, is unable to use a spell checker, or is just lazy...or like me a rubbish typist...
It might be better if the posters who continually correct others were asked to stop as it can seem like a subtle bullying or a way to do a bit of winding up.

[HowardKennitby]

Most publishers and other organisations have their own house style. I believe Oxford University Press have one that is well regarded and used by others.

[ummmm]

Very well said Rowan.

I actually think some people do it to feel superior, which is not very nice.

[Playbill]

I have a copy of The Oxford University Press Guide to style.

It states that in non-technical contexts, use words for numbers below 100.

In technical contexts, it recommends spelling out numbers below ten.

[isitjustme]

Rowan, I entirely agree, there are several of those on the crossword puzzles pages. They know who they are!!

[JonnyBoy12]

I am not sure but we have to accept these rules of English as gospel, I am afraid.

Is it true that you can not start a sentence with a number as well?

[DaisyNonna]

Excuse me Nox but it is separate

[jno]

there's no law, but publishers tend to choose a house style for the sake of consistency. The Guardian's is the same as the Telegraph's:

"Spell out from one to nine; numerals from 10 to 999,999; thereafter use m or bn for sums of money, quantities or inanimate objects in copy, eg £10m, 5bn tonnes of coal, 30m doses of vaccine; but million or billion for people or animals, eg one million people, 25 million rabbits, the world population is seven billion, etc; spell trillion in full at first mention, then tn; in headlines use m, bn or tn "

The Nox Publishing House works to different rules, especially if it demands that you spell out forty-two thousand, six hundred and seventy-five and a half.