Write for Business - Blog

In letters and most other business writing, dates are indicated by the month, day, and year with a comma separating the figures.

June 15, 2002

The military and most European companies use the day-month-year system with no commas.

5 June 2002

Note: Avoid using slashes with numbers.

In many countries 6/8/03 would mean August 6, 2003.

(From Write for Business, page 212, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 14)

Hyphens are used to form compound modifiers indicating measurement. They are also used for inclusive numbers and fractions when written out.

a 500-mile flight

the fiscal year 2001-2002

a two-thirds majority

a three-hour drive

(From Write for Business, page 212, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 14)

Unless they cannot be expressed in one or two words, use words for numbers that precede a compound modifier that includes another number.

She sold twenty 35-millimeter cameras in one day.

The prescription called for 120 25-milligram doses.

Note: You may use a combination of words and numerals for very large numbers.

6-8 million

2 billion to 2.9 billion

7 trillion

(From Write for Business, page 212, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 14)

Use words to express numbers when they begin a sentence.

Twelve customers have complained so far.

Note: If this rule creates an awkward sentence, reword the sentence.

Clumsy: Seven hundred forty-two employees signed up for dental care last year.

Better: Last year, 742 employees signed up for dental care.

(From Write for Business, page 212, and Proofreader's Guide PDF, page 14)