AP Style Numbers - Writing Explained

In general you should spell out numbers one through nine in AP Style. Consider the following examples of AP Style numbers,

The Chicago White Sox finished second.
She had six months left of her pregnancy.

You should use figures for 10 or above and whenever preceding a unit of measure or referring to ages of people, animals, events or things. Also use figures in all tabular matter, and in statistical and sequential forms.

Use Figures For

Academic course numbers:

Calculus 2
English 101

Addresses:

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue

Spell out numbered streets nine and under. For example,

The address is 5 Sixth St.
Go to the restaurant at 1500 32nd St.

Ages:

A 6-year-old boy
An 8-year-old car
A 4-year-old house

Use hyphens for ages expressed as adjectives before a noun or as substitutes for a noun. For example,

The 5-year-old boy

-but-

The boy is 5 years old

Also,

The boy, 5, has a sister, 10.
The race is for 3-year-olds.
The woman is in her 30s.
She is a 30-something.

-but-

Thirty-something to start a sentence.

Planes, ships, and spacecraft designations:

B-2 bomber
Queen Elizabeth 2
QE2
Apollo 9
Viking 2

(Do not use hyphens.)

An exception to spelling out numbers for planes, ships, etc. is “Air Force One,” the president’s plane.

Use Roman numerals if they are part of the official designation. For example,

Titan I
Titan II

See also AP Style Aircraft Names, AP Style Boats, Ships, and AP Style Spacecraft Designations.

Centuries:

Use figures for numbers 10 or higher.

21st century

Spell out for numbers nine and lower.

fifth century

Note, “century” is lowercase. For proper names, follow the organization’s usage,

20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fund

Court Decisions:

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4.
A 5-4 decision.

The words “to” is not needed, except in quotations. Example,

“The court rules 5 to 4.”

Dates, Years, Decades:

Feb. 8, 2005
Class of ’99
The 1940s

For the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 9/11 is acceptable in all references.

Decimals, Percentages, and Fractions With Numbers Larger Than 1:

7.2 magnitude quake
3 ½ laps
3.7 percent interest
4 percentage points

Decimalization should not exceed two places in most text material. An exception is blood alcohol content, which is express in three decimals. For example,

.056

For amounts less than 1, precede the decimal with a zero. For example,

The cost of living rose 0.05 percent.

When the decimal is 1 or less, the type of measurement should be singular. For example,

0.35 meter
0.55 cubic foot
0.75 kilometer

Spell out fractions less than 1, using hyphens between the words. For example,

two-thirds
three-fifths

In quotations, use figures for fractions. For example,

“He was 3 ½ seconds behind with 2 laps to go.”

See also AP Style Decimal Units, AP Style Fractions, and AP Style Percent.

Dimensions:

He is 5 feet 6 inches tall.
The 5-foot-6 man is here (“inch” is understood)
The 5-foot man
The basketball team signed a 7-footer.
The car is 17 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet high.
The rug is 9 feet by 12 feet.
The 9-by-12 rug.
A 9-inch snowfall.

Exception: a two-by-four. Spell out the noun, which refers to any length of building lumber 1.5 inches thick by 3.5 inches wide.

Distances:

She walked 5 miles.
He missed a 10-foot jump shot.

Golf Clubs:

3-wood
7-iron
3-hybrid (note hyphen)

Highway destinations:

Interstate 5
U.S. Highway 1
state Route 1A
Route 66 (Do not abbreviate “Route” and do not hyphenate.)

Mathematical Usage:

Multiply by 4
Divide by 6
He added 2 and 2 but got 5.

Military Ranks:

Used as titles with names, military terms, and weapons.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Alan Markow
1st Sgt. David Triplett
M16 rifle
9 mm pistol (note the space)
6th Fleet

In military ranks, spell out the figure when it is used after the name or without a name. For example,

Smith was a second lieutenant.
The goal is to make first sergeant.

Millions, Billions, Trillions Dollars:

Use a figure-word combination.

1 million people, not one million
$2 billion, not two billion

Also note no hyphen linking numerals and the word million, billion, or trillion.

See also AP Style Millions, Billions, Trillions Dollars.

Monetary Units:

5 cents
$5 bill
8 euros
4 pounds

Odds, Proportions, and Ratios:

9-1 longshot
3 parts cement to 1 part water
a 1-4 chance, but one chance in three

See also AP Style Betting Odds, AP Style Proportions, and AP Style Ratios.

Rank:

He was my No. 1 choice.

Note the abbreviation for “Number.” Do not use this abbreviation in names of schools or in street addresses. For example,

Public School 19

There is one exception, “No. 10 Downing St.,” which is the residence of Britain’s prime minister.

School Grades:

Use figures for grades 10 and above.

10th grade
12th grade

Spell out for first through ninth grades.

fourth grade
fifth-grader (note hyphen)

Sequential Designations:

Page 1, Page 20A
They were out of sizes 4 and 5.
Magnitude 6 earthquake
Rooms 3 and 4
Chapter 2
Line 1, but first line
Act 3, Scene 4, but third act, fourth scene
Game 1, but best of seven

See also AP Style Act Numbers, AP Style Chapters, AP Style Earthquakes, AP Style Line Numbers, AP Style Page Numbers, and AP Style Scene Numbers.

Political Districts:

Ward 9
9th Precinct
3rd Congressional District
5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

See also AP Style Congressional Districts and AP Style Political Divisions.

Recipes:

2 tablespoons to 1 cup of milk

Speeds:

7 mph
winds of 5 to 10 mph
winds of 7 to 9 knots

Sports scores, Standings, and Standards:

The Giants defeated the Lions 14-7 (No comma between the team and the score).

In Golf

3 up, but a 3-up lead, led 3-2
a 6-1-2 record (six wins, one loss, two ties)
par 3
5 handicap
5-under-par 67
he was 5 under par (or “5 under” with “par” understood)

In narrative, spell out nine and under except for yard lines in football and individual and team statistical performances.

The ball was on the 5-yard line.
Seventh hole
Three-point play, but a 3-point shot

In statistical performances, hyphenate as a modifier.

He completed 8 of 12 passes.
He made 5 of 6 (shots is understood).
He was 5-for-12 passing.
He had a 3-for-5 day.
He was 3-for-5.
He went 3-for-5 (batting, shooting, passing, etc., is understood).

Temperatures:

Use figures, except zero.

It was 8 degrees below zero or minus 8.
The temperature dropped from 38 to 8 in two hours.

Times:

Use figures for time of day except for noon and midnight.

1 p.m.
10:30 a.m.
5 o’clock
8 hours
30 minutes
20 seconds
a winning time of 2:17.3 (two hours, 17 minutes, 3 seconds)

Spell out numbers less than 10 standing alone and in modifiers.

I’ll be there in five minutes.
He scored with two seconds left.
An eight-hour day.
The two-minute warning.

See also AP Style Times, AP Style Time Sequences, and Is Noon AM or PM?

Votes:

The bill was defeated by a vote of 6 to 4.

-but-

The bill was defeated by a two-vote margin.

Spell out:

At the start of a sentence:

Fifty years was a long time to wait.
Twenty to 30 cars were involved in the accident.

The only exception is years.

1995 was a very good year.

Roman Numerals:

Roman Numerals may be used for wars and to establish personal sequence for people and animals.

World War I
Native Dancer II
King George V
Pope John Paul II

Also for certain legislative acts (Title IX). Otherwise, use sparingly. Except in formal reference, pro football Super Bowls should be identified by the year, rather than the Roman numerals.

1969 Super Bowl, not Super Bowl III

Ordinals:

Numbers used to indicate order (first, second, 10th, 25th, etc.) are called ordinal numbers. Spell out first through ninth.

fourth grade
first base
the First Amendment
he was second in line

Use figures starting with 10th.

Cardinal Numbers:

Numbers used in counting or showing how many (2, 40, 627, etc.) are called cardinal numbers. The following separate entries additional guidance for cardinal numbers.

AP Style Amendments to the Constitution
AP Style Channel
AP Style Court Names
AP Style Decades
AP Style Election Returns
AP Style Fleet
AP Style Formula
AP Style Latitude and Longitude
AP Style Mile
AP Style Parallels
AP Style Proportions
AP Style Serial Numbers
AP Style Telephones Numbers
AP Style Weights

Some other punctuation and usage example for AP Style Numbers,

3 ounces
4-foot-long
4-foot-fence
“The senator’s speech lasted 18 1/2 minutes,” she said.
DC-10 but 747B
the 1980s, but the ‘80s
the House voted 230-205 (fewer than 1,000 votes).
Jimmy Carter outpolled Gerald Ford 40,827,292 to 39,146,157 (more than 1,000 votes).
Carter outpolled Ford 10 votes to 2 votes in Little Junction (to avoid confusion with ratio)
No. 3 choice, but Public School 3
a pay increase of 12-15 percent

-or-

a pay increase of between 12 and 15 percent

-but-

from $12 million to $14 million
a ratio of 2-to-1, a 2-to-1 ratio
1 in 4 voters
seven houses 7 miles apart
He walked 4 miles.
minus 10, zero, 60 degrees

Other Uses:

For uses not covered by these listings, spell out whole numbers below 10, and use figures for 10 and above.

They had three sons and two daughters.
They had a fleet of 10 station wagons and two buses.

In a Series:

Apply the standard guidelines:

They had 11 dogs, five cats, and 90 gerbils.
They had five four-room houses, 10 three-room houses, and 12 10-room houses.

Contents

Use Figures For

Academic course numbers:

Addresses:

Ages:

Planes, ships, and spacecraft designations:

Centuries:

Court Decisions:

Dates, Years, Decades:

Decimals, Percentages, and Fractions With Numbers Larger Than 1:

Dimensions:

Distances:

Golf Clubs:

Highway destinations:

Mathematical Usage:

Military Ranks:

Millions, Billions, Trillions Dollars:

Monetary Units:

Odds, Proportions, and Ratios:

Rank:

School Grades:

Sequential Designations:

Political Districts:

Recipes:

Speeds:

Sports scores, Standings, and Standards:

Temperatures:

Times:

Votes:

Spell out:

Roman Numerals:

Ordinals:

Cardinal Numbers:

Other Uses:

In a Series:

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