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Figures

Never start a sentence with a figure; write the number in words instead. Use figures for numerals from 11 upwards, and for all numerals that include a decimal point or a fraction (eg, 4.25, 4¼). Use words for simple numerals from one to ten, except: in references to pages; in percentages (eg, 4%); and in sets of numerals, some of which are higher than ten, eg, Deaths from this cause in the past three years were 14, 9 and 6. It is occasionally permissible to use words rather than numbers when referring to a rough or rhetorical figure (such as a thousand curses).

Fractions should be hyphenated (one-half, three-quarters, etc) and, unless they are attached to whole numbers (8½, 29¾), spelled out in words, even when the figures are higher than ten: He gave a tenth of his salary to the church, a twentieth to his mistress and a thirtieth to his wife.Do not compare a fraction with a decimal (so avoid The rate fell from 3¼% to 3.1%).Fractions are more precise than decimals (3.14 neglects an infinity of figures that are embraced by 22/7), but your readers probably do not think so. You should therefore use fractions for rough figures (Kenya's population is growing at 3½% a year, A hectare is 2½ acres) and decimals for more exact ones: The retail price index is rising at an annual rate of 10.6%. But treat all numbers with respect; that usually means resisting the precision of more than one decimal place, and generally favouring rounding off. Beware of phoney over-precision. Use m for million, but spell out billion, except in charts, where bn is permissible but not obligatory. Thus: 8m, £8m, 8 billion, €8 billion. A billion is a thousand million, a trillion a thousand billion, a quadrillion a thousand trillion. Use 5,000-6,000, 5-6%, 5m-6m (not 5-6m) and 5 billion-6 billion. But sales rose from 5m to 6m (not 5m-6m); estimates ranged between 5m and 6m (not 5m-6m). Where to is being used as part of a ratio, it is usually best to spell it out. Thus They decided, by nine votes to two, to put the matter to the general assembly which voted, 27 to 19, to insist that the ratio of vodka to tomato juice in a bloody mary should be at least one to three, though the odds of this being so in most bars were put at no better than 11 to 4 . Where a ratio is being used adjectivally, figures and hyphens may be used, but only if one of the figures is greater than ten: thus a 50-20 vote, a 19-9 vote. Otherwise, spell out the figures and use to: a two-to-one vote, a ten-to-one probability.Do not use a hyphen in place of to except with figures: He received a sentence of 15-20 years in jail but He promised to have escaped within three to four weeks.With figures, use a person or per person, a year or per year, not per caput, per capita or per annum.In most non-American contexts, prefer hectares to acres, kilometres (or km) to miles, metres to yards, litres to gallons, kilos to lb, tonnes to tons, Celsius to Fahrenheit, etc. In the United States section, you may use the more familiar measurements (though remember that American pints, quarts, gallons, etc, are smaller than imperial ones). Regardless of which you choose, you should give an equivalent, on first use, in the other units: It was hoped that after improvements to the engine the car would give 20km to the litre (47 miles per American gallon), compared with its present average of 15km per litre. Remember that in few countries do you now buy petrol in imperial gallons. In America it is sold in American gallons; in most other places it is sold in litres. The style for aircraft types can be confusing. Some have hyphens in obvious places (eg, F-22, B-2 bomber), some in unusual places (MiG-31M) and some none at all (Airbus A340, BAe RJ70). Others have both name and number (Lockheed P-3 Orion). When in doubt, use Jane's “All The World's Aircraft”. Its index also includes makers' correct names. The style for calibres is 50mm or 105mm with no hyphen, but 5.5-inch and 25-pounder.Use the sign % instead of per cent. But write percentage, not %age (though in most contexts proportion or share is preferable). A fall from 4% to 2% is a drop of two percentage points, or of 50%, but not of 2%. Roman numerals should not be set in small capitals.

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Hyphens

Use hyphens for

1. FRACTIONS (whether nouns or adjectives): two-thirds, four-fifths, one-sixth, etc.

2. MOST WORDS THAT BEGIN with anti, non and neo. Thus anti-aircraft, anti-fascist, anti-submarine (but antibiotic, anticlimax, antidote, antiseptic, antitrust); non-combatant, non-existent, non-payment, non-violent (but nonaligned, nonconformist, nonplussed, nonstop); neo-conservative, neo-liberal (but neoclassicism, neolithic, neologism). Words beginning Euro should also be hyphenated, except Europhile, Europhobe and Eurosceptic; euro zone and euro area.Some words that become unmanageably long with the addition of a prefix. Thus under-secretary and inter-governmental. Antidisestablishmentarianism would, however, lose its point if it were hyphenated. A sum followed by the word worth also needs a hyphen. Thus $25m-worth of goods.

3. SOME TITLES vice-presidentdirector-generalunder-secretarysecretary-generalattorney-generallieutenant-colonelmajor-generalfield-marshal but general secretarydeputy secretarydeputy directordistrict attorney

4. TO AVOID AMBIGUITIES a little-used cara little used-carcross complaintcross-complainthigh-school girlhigh schoolgirlfine-tooth comb (most people do not comb their teeth)third-world warthird world war

5. AIRCRAFT DC-10Mirage F-1EMiG-23Lockheed P-3 Orion(If in doubt, consult Jane's "All the World's Aircraft".)

6. ADJECTIVES FORMED FROM TWO OR MORE WORDS right-wing groups (but the right wing of the party)balance-of-payments difficultiesprivate-sector wagespublic-sector borrowing requirementa 70-year-old judgestate-of-the-union messagevalue-added tax (VAT)Adverbs do not need to be linked to participles or adjectives by hyphens in simple constructions: The regiment was ill equipped for its task; The principle is well established; Though expensively educated, the journalist knew no grammar. But if the adverb is one of two words together being used adjectivally, a hyphen may be needed: The ill-equipped regiment was soon repulsed; All well-established principles should be periodically challenged. The hyphen is especially likely to be needed if the adverb is short and common, such as ill, little, much and well. Less-common adverbs, including all those that end -ly, are less likely to need hyphens: Never employ an expensively educated journalist.Do not overdo the literary device of hyphenating words that are not usually linked: the stringing-together-of-lots-and-lots-of-words-and-ideas tendency can be tiresome.

7. SEPARATING IDENTICAL LETTERS: book-keeping (but bookseller), coat-tails, co-operate, unco-operative, pre-eminent, pre-empt (but predate, precondition), re-emerge, re-entry (but rearm, rearrange, reborn, repurchase), trans-ship. Exceptions include override, overrule, underrate, withhold.

8. NOUNS FORMED FROM PREPOSITIONAL VERBS: bail-out, build-up, call-up, get-together, lay-off, pay-off, round-up, set-up, shake-up, etc. 9. THE QUARTERS OF THE COMPASS: north-east(ern), south-east(ern), south-west(ern), north-west(ern), the mid-west(ern).

10. HYBRID ETHNICS:Greek-Cypriot, Irish-American, etc, whether noun or adjective.Words gathered together in quotation marks to serve as adjectives do not usually need hyphens as well: the "Live Free or Die" state.A general rule for makers: if the prefix is of one or two syllables, attach it without a hyphen to form a single word, but if the prefix is of three or more syllables, introduce a hyphen. So carmaker, chipmaker, peacemaker, marketmaker, troublemaker, but candlestick-maker, holiday-maker, tiramisu-maker, antimacassar-maker. Policymaker (one word) is an exception. With other words ending -er that are similar to maker (builder, dealer, driver, grower, owner, player, runner, seeker, trafficker, worker, etc) the general rule should be to insert a hyphen. But some prefixes, especially those of one syllable, can be used to form single words (coalminer, foxhunter, householder, landowner, metalworker, muckraker, nitpicker, shipbroker, steeplechaser), and some combinations will be better left as two words (insurance broker, crossword compiler, tuba player).