Writing Numbers in AP Style

When you write a number, you can either use a numeral (e.g. 20, 876, 12 ½) or spell the number out (e.g. nine, seven, one-third).

There are two rules of thumb for when to spell out numbers in AP Style.

When the number is between one and nine:

• Dobby the house elf was wearing seven pairs of socks.

When the number is a fraction less than 1:

• A study found that three-fourths of Hogwarts students prefer owls to cats.

Here’s when to not spell out the numbers, and use numerals instead.

When the number is 10 or higher:

• Ginny Weasley caught the Quaffle 10 times.
• Sirius Black wrote Harry 27 letters.

When the number is a fraction greater than 1:

• Dudley ate 3 ½ pizzas.

When the number is a percentage greater than 1:

• There’s a 4% chance it’ll snow at Hogwarts today.
• A recent survey found that 25% of Gryffindor students have pets.

When the number precedes a unit of measure:

• This Butterbeer recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar.
• The Womping Willow is 18 feet high.

When you are referring to ages of people, animals, events or things:

• Crookshanks was only 3 years old when Hermione adopted him.
• Nicholas Flamel was 665 years old when he died.

In compiling this post, we referenced the Writing Explained website. Read more here.