Conventions of Composition Rule 123 Practice

1. Wrong: I bought 10 pies, 6 doughnuts, and 200 gummy worms during the time I lived at 11 Interlaken Road.

Better: I bought ten pies, six doughnuts, and two-hundred gummy worms during the time I lived at 11 Interlaken Road.

Explanation: Only the number on this address should be written as a number.

2. Correct: Jackie's 137 home runs and Michael's 2186 dunks make them stand out forever as greats.

Explanation: Both of the number in this sentence use more than two words to spell out, so can be left in numerical form.

3. Wrong: Between 10 and 15 kids each year go on semester programs.

Better: Between ten and fifteen kids each year go on semester programs.

Explanation: These numbers each need one word to be spelled out, so should be spelled out.

4. Wrong: 100 percent of the kids on that team plan to play in the WNBA.

Better: One hundred percent of the kids on that team plan to play in the WNBA.

Explanation: The first word in a sentence can't be the numerical form of a number.