AP StyleRules at a Glance
Numerals
In general:Spell out whole numbers below 10.Use Arabic numerals (figures) for 10 and above.This applies to ordinal numbers, too:first, second, third, 10th, 22nd, 100th ...They had 10 dogs, six cats and 97 fish. … The students visited 12 cities in four days. … The third test covered sixth-century history. … She finished 15th in the class of 590.
Millions, billions:Avoid long strings of numbers; they’re hard to read and confusing. Use
1 million instead of 1,000,000or 250 million instead of 250,000,000. Round to one decimal place:$5.5 billion instead of $5,500,000,000.
Always use figures for:Act and scene numbers … Ages … Aircraft … Betting odds … Channels (TV) … Chapters … Course numbers … Court decisions … Dates … Decades … Dimensions … Highways … House numbers in addresses … Money … No. 1 (and similar rankings) ...Page numbers … Percentages … Phone numbers … Ratios … Room numbers … Serial numbers … Sizes … Speeds … Sports … Temperatures … Times … Vote tabulations … Weights
Act and scene numbers:In Act 1 …; in Act 2, Scene 2, …But: the first act, the second act.
Ages:Smith, 23, …3-year-old Bobby …6-month-old puppy … She is 7 years old.
Aircraft, spacecraft:B-1 bomber … Apollo 15 … Boeing 747
Betting odds:He won despite 3-2 odds against him.
Channels (TV): WRIC, or Channel 8, is an ABC affiliate.WBBT goes by NBC 12.WTVR is also called CBS 6.
Chapters: In his new novel, Chapter 1 opens with …; in Chapter 12 …But: the first chapter, the 12th chapter
Course numbers:Mass Communication 101 … History 403 …
Court decisions:The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to …
Dates:Sept. 6 … May 12 … Dec. 25 … Don’t use ordinal numbers (such as June 5th).
Decades: To pluralize: the 1890s, the mid-1980s … To drop digits: the ’90s, Roaring ’20s
Dimensions:Use figures and spell outinches, feet, yards, etc.: He is 5 feet 6 inches tall. … The 6-foot-3-inch man …The car is 12 feet long and 5 feet wide. … The storm left 4 inches of snow.
Highway designations:Interstate 95 … U.S. Highway 250 … Route 1A …
House numbers in addresses:901 W. Main St. … 5 Oakland Ave. … 18 E. Broad St.
Monetary units:$1.50; $19.99 … $7 (not $7.00; no ‘.00’ for exact amounts) … 5 cents (not 5¢) … $1 million; $26.5 million; $412 billion
No. (as in a rank):Virginia Tech is ranked No. 1 ...The No. 2 team is ...The United States was No. 3 ...
Page numbers:On Page 1 …; Page 18 says … Page 20A … One exception: It’s a Page One story.
Percentages (no matter how small):1 percent … 45 percent … 0.4 percent
Phone numbers:Use hyphens to connect segments:804-828-2661; 800-555-2222
Ratios:The Republicans hold a 3-2 majority …
Room numbers:The meeting will be in Room 8. … In Room 114 …
Serial numbers:Use figures and capital letters: A1234567; BVV2W-42GHK-GM6H8
Sizes: Use figures but lowercase ‘size’:A size 9 shoe. She wears a size 6.He wears a size 42 long.
Speeds:5 mph … 100 mph … 50 knots
Sports:They lost, 3-2. … He caught a 9-yard pass. … 5 under par
Temperatures (except zero):5 degrees above zero … in the 80s … 9 degrees below zero; minus 9 (not -9)
Times:at 6 a.m. (not 6:00 – no ‘:00’ on the hour) … after 11:20 p.m. … But: noon, midnight (‘12 noon’ is redundant)
Vote tabulations:The School Board voted 6-3 to …If there are fewer than 1,000 votes on each side, use:The House voted 230-205; a 230-205 vote. … If there are more than 1,000 votes on a side, use:HenricoCounty favored Kaine over Kilgore, 49,170 to 41,619. … The 4th Ward voted 8,321 to 2,039 for the proposal.
Weights:The baby weighed just 2 pounds. … She had a 9-pound, 7-ounce boy. … The device weighs only 1 ounce but could destroy a city block. … He added 5 grams of sulfate.
Ordinal numbers:General rule: Spell out ‘first’ through ‘ninth,’ then: 10th, 11th …That applies to street names:First Street … Ninth Street … 10th Street, 11th Street, 22nd Street … 9 Second Ave., 440 45th St., 56 E. 21st St. … But there are exceptions:
Political divisions:7th Congressional District … 3rd Ward … 12th House District
Court names:4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals … 10th District Court … 5th Judicial Circuit of Virginia
Military units:1st Infantry Division … 80th Institutional Training Division … 7th Fleet
Military titles before a name:1st Sgt. Grover Santone … Petty Officer 2nd Class Calvin Winthrop … 2nd Lt. Janet Petry
Write out numbers: When the number is under 10 (unless an exception applies) … When beginning a sentence:Twelve students were arrested. (One exception: It’s OK to start a sentence with a year. … 2007 was the best year in VCU basketball history. … Recast sentences if necessary. Avoid:One thousand three hundred and twenty-two students registered for VCU 101 last year.Instead, write:Last year, 1,322 students registered for VCU 101.
Big numbers:If you must spell out a large number, use a hyphen to connect a word ending in y to another word; do not use commas to divide the words. … Twenty-one … Thirty-five …One hundred forty-three … One thousand one hundred fifty-five … One million two hundred seventy-six thousand five hundred eighty-seven …
Miscellaneous:Write out fractions: two-thirds, one-fourth, a fifth ... write out casual numbers: It’s happened a million times.
Roman numerals: Use them with individuals (William Randolph Hearst III), popes & monarchs (Henry VIII, Pope Paul XI) and wars (World War I, World War II). Don’t use commas to separate Roman numerals from names.