4 days ago
Numbers, measures and money
Numbers
Spell out numbers below 10: one, nine, first, fourth, 17th, 123rd, 999, in their 30s, 50-somethings.
million, billion, trillion: abbreviate to m, bn, tn for currencies (e.g. £10m, $97bn, Є2.4tn); otherwise write out in full (200 million cars, two billion people, 40 trillion stars).
Money
Use figures at all times with currency signs and abbreviations: £1, $2. Always convert a foreign currency to sterling on first mention.
Only pounds, United States dollars and the euro take symbols in general news and feature copy. All other currencies are anglicised on first mention: e.g. Indian rupees, Canadian dollars, Chinese renminbi. When it has been established which currency is being referred to, these abbreviations may be used: Australia A$, Canada C$, India Rs, Israel Shl, Japan Y, Saudi Arabia SR, South Africa R, Switzerland Sfr.
If referring to pre-decimal British coinage, use the following abbreviations: £ for pound, s for shilling and d for pence as in £7 15s 6d.
Weights and measurements
Use metric for measuring shorter distances (centimetres and metres) and spaces (sq cm, sq metres) but miles for longer distances and sq miles for larger spaces. Avoid using yards unless for good reason. Litres for water, pints for beer and milk.
Use stones and pounds when weighing people (12st 7lb), kilograms when weighing objects. Feet and inches for people (6ft 7in). Aeroplanes fly at 30,000ft rather than 9,000m. Prefer feet for mountains
For common weights and measures, use the abbreviations g, kg, m, cm, mm, oz, lb, st, cwt, in, ft, yd after numerals from two upwards.
Do not abbreviate acres, miles, pints, gallons. One pound, less than a hundredweight, a few ounces, 7lb, 5st, 10st 5lb, 5lb 7oz. Two miles, 27 miles, two acres, 125 acres, 2ft, 2ft 3in, 3yd. 10m, 10cm, 10mm; 50g, 2kg.
Usually it is not necessary to distinguish between the ton (imperial, 2240lb) and the tonne (metric ton of 1,000 kilograms = 2,204.6lb). Use tons unless the small difference is important.
Fractions
Use half, quarter, three quarters, third, fifth, eighth in preference to decimals in general copy. Use decimals when they aid comprehension or comparison, but not with imperial measurements: e.g. write 3ft 9in rather than 3.75 feet, or 6lb 8oz not 6.5lb. Do not use decimals and fractions in the same story except when necessary in financial copy. In money markets all dealings are in fractions. Write 2¼.
If it is necessary to use oddities such as two one-hundredths of a second, ensure that the use of the hyphen and the word 'one' prevents confusion with two hundredths. Two 100ths of a second or 200th of a second are ugly, but may be necessary.
Per cent
Abbreviate to pc in Business/Money articles and headlines. Spell out in news, features etc. So 1pc (not one pc), 2.6pc, 30-40pc, 300pc etc. Use % only in tables.
