Fractions, Decimals, and Money
Rule: Always spell out simple fractions and use hyphens with them.
Example: One-half of the pies have been eaten.
Rule: A mixed fraction can be expressed in figures unless it is the first word of a sentence.
Example: We expect a 5 1/2 percent wage increase.
Example: Five and one-half percent was the maximum allowable interest.
Rule: Hyphenate all compound numbers from twenty-one through ninety-nine.
Example: Forty-three people were injured in the train wreck.
Rule: Replace a decimal point with and when you write out amounts on a check. You may use numerals in fraction form for cents.
Example: Fifty-two and 46/100 (Dollars will already be printed at the end of the line.)
Rule: Express large numbers simply. Be careful to be consistent within a sentence.
Correct: You can earn from one million to five million dollars.
Incorrect: You can earn from one million to $5,000,000.
Correct: You can earn from $500 to $5,000,000.
Incorrect: You can earn from $500 to $5 million.
Correct: You can earn from five hundred to five million dollars.
Incorrect: You can earn from $500 to five million dollars.
Rule: Write decimals in figures. Place a zero in front of a decimal unless the decimal itself begins with a zero.
Example: The plant grew 0.79 of a foot in one year.
Example: The plant grew only .07 of a foot this year because of the drought.
Quiz: Correct or incorrect?
1. Eighty one people were injured in the train accident.
2. I wrote a check for $300, not $3000.00.
3. Hair grows one fourth of an inch per month.
4. The tree grew .95 of a foot due to a wet winter.
Answers: All sentences were incorrect.
1. Eighty-one
2. $3000
3. one-fourth
4. 0.95
Posted on Sunday, August 24th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
10 Responses to “Fractions, Decimals, and Money”
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I was wondering if it was supposed to be five and a half or five and a half? I remember that there was some funky rule about ‘A’ verses “AN” in this type of setting. Please help. Thank you Brandi
I think you mistyped but the correct way to write this is as follows: five and a half.
I was wondering if there are any rules regarding where the dollar sign should go when using parenthesis to display a negative number. Is it $(500) or ($500)? The “Accounting” format in excel would display it as: $(500). Is that correct? Are both acceptable?
The use of parentheses to indicate a negative number is typically seen on spreadsheets, not in formal writing, to which my rules apply. Rule 1 in the Parentheses section of GrammarBook.com says, “Use parentheses to enclose words or figures that clarify or are used as an aside.” Thus, in formal writing, parentheses would not indicate a negative number.
Example: I expect five hundred dollars ($500).
In most formal writing, use the minus sign to indicate a negative number.
Example: -$500
Dear Jane,
Isn’t it “one-million to five-million dollars?” Aren’t one- and five-million compound adjectival modifiers?
Thanks,
Bill
As described in our blog “Numbers as Adjectives,” you would hyphenate when a number and a measurement unit taken together form an adjective, that is, when they describe another object. An example would be “a five-million-dollar deficit.”
Doesn’t my previous point stand? To use your example — five-million-dollar deficit — isn’t it equally appropriate to hyphenate, e.g., five-dollar deficit? Therefore, my original example, ” one-million to five-million dollars,” (originally yours without hyphens) stands, and, in fact, would be better expressed thusly: “one- to five-million dollars.” ??
Thanks. Lots of fun.
Grammatically speaking, there is no difference between five million dollars, 12 hours, 25 yards, four pounds, etc. They are simply numbers with their unit definitions. The important phrases from the “Numbers As Adjectives” blog that I used below is, “hyphenate when a number and a measurement unit taken together form an adjective, that is, when they describe another object.”
Notice the difference between:
five million dollars vs. five-million-dollar deficit (or five-dollar deficit, quantity doesn’t matter)
12 hours vs. a 12-hour shift
25 yards vs. a 25-yard lead
four pounds vs. a four-pound hammer
Similarly, in expressing a range:
Next year, we expect our deficit to range from one to five million dollars. vs. Next year, we expect a one- to five-million-dollar deficit.
I submit that the phrases “four-pound hammer” and “five-million dollars” are identical: the noun in each case is modified by a compound adjectival modifier, thus requiring the hyphen in each case.
If the two phrases differ, it is not a structural or contextual difference. Wherein, then, the difference? What am I not seeing?
This is great fun.
Bill
P.S.
“Grammatically speaking, there is no difference between five million dollars, 12 hours, 25 yards, four pounds, etc.”
Au contraire. The difference between, e.g., “five million dollars” and “12 hours” is precisely grammatical: “12,” in the latter observation, is a simple adjectival modifier; “five million” is a compound modifier, thus requiring a hyphen.
What you are not seeing is that four-pound hammer and five million dollars are not identical. Four is a number, five million is a number. Just because it takes two words to express the number five million, does not make it a compound adjective. Our blogs “Hyphens with Numbers” and “Numbers as Adjectives” explain this in more detail. I recommend that you read those blogs carefully along with the comments. The rule says, “When you are combining two or more words to form a compound adjective in front of a noun, put hyphens between these words.” The two words “four-pound” form a compound adjective in front of the noun “hammer.” The two words “five million” in front of dollars do not form a compound adjective. They simply form a number, a single adjective in front of dollars.