Numerals
279
- 300,000; not 300 thousand
- $½ billion to $1¼ billion (note full figure with second fraction); $1¼ to $1½ billion
- three-quarters of a billion dollars
- 5 or 10 billion dollars' worth
12.25.
Related numbers appearing at the beginning of a sentence, separated by no more than three words, are treated alike.
- Fifty or sixty more miles away is snowclad Mount Everest.
- Sixty and, quite often, seventy listeners responded.
but Fifty or, in some instances, almost 60 applications were filed.
Fractions
12.26.
Mixed fractions are always expressed in figures. Fractions standing alone, however, or if followed by of a or of an, are generally spelled out. (See also rule 12.28.)
- three-fourths of an inch; not ¾ inch nor ¾ of an inch
- one-half inch
- one-half of a farm; not ½ of a farm
- one-fourth inch
- seven-tenths of 1 percent
- three-quarters of an inch
- half an inch Vi-inch-diameter pipe
- a quarter of an inch
- one-tenth portion
- one-hundredth
- two one-hundredths
- one-thousandth
- five one-thousandths
- thirty-five one-thousandths
- but
- ½ to 1¾ pages
- ½-inch pipe
- 3½ cans
- 2½ times
12.27.
Fractions (¼, ½, ¾, ⅜, ⅝, ⅞, 1⁄2954) or full-sized figures with the shilling mark (1/4, 1/2954) may be used only when either is specifically requested. A comma should not be used in any part of a built-up fraction of four or more digits or in decimals. (See rule 12.9e.)
12.28.
Fractions are used in a unit modifier.
- ½-inch pipe; not one-half-inch pipe
- ¼-mile run
- ⅞-point rise
