Either write out in full or, if this does not work, make use of devices such as inversion: Altogether 92 cases were found …, Of the total, € 55 million was spent on …ģ.2 Always use figures with units of measurement that are denoted by symbols or abbreviations:Ģ50 kW or two hundred and fifty kilowattsĢ05 µg or two hundred and five micrograms On the other hand, try not to start a sentence with a figure or a symbol followed by a figure.
Note that you should always use figures for statistics (3 new officials were appointed in 2002, 6 in 2003 and …), for votes ( 12 delegations were in favour, 7 against, and 6 abstained), for ranges denoted by a dash (see Ranges, 3.14– 3.15), and for serial numbers ( Chapter 5, Article 9, Item 4) unless you are quoting a source that does otherwise ( Part One of the EEC Treaty). If the passage contains both kinds, however, use either figures or words for all the numbers. As a general rule write low numbers (up to nine inclusive) in words and larger numbers ( 10 and above) in figures. In deciding whether to write numbers in words or figures, the first consideration should be consistency within a passage. The plurals of single lower-case letters may, however, take an apostrophe to avoid misunderstanding:ģ.1 General. Plurals of figures do not take an apostrophe:Ģ.43 Plurals of single letters.
Plurals of abbreviations (MEPs, OCTs, SMEs, UFOs, VDUs ) do not take an apostrophe.Ģ.42 Plurals of figures. It’s = it is (as distinct from the possessive ‘its’) who’s = who is (as distinct from whose) you’re = you are (as distinct from your)Ģ.41 Plurals of abbreviations. Contractions are common in informal texts, but not in formal texts. where one or more letters have been omitted in a word or where two words have been joined together. Apostrophes are also used to indicate contractions, i.e. There is no apostrophe in Achilles tendon.Ģ.40 Contractions. Chambers Dictionary) sometimes omit the apostrophe as well. Possessives of proper names in titles (e.g. Note that some place names also omit the apostrophe ( Earls Court, Kings Cross).