Should I use letters or digits in the following case?
De-Shi was holding something that looked like a price tag. It had the numbers 024 written on it.
"Isn't that what cows wear as earrings?"
"Yeah," De-Shi said, still inspecting the object, a thoughtful expression on his face, "an ear tags."
I knelt down next to De-Shi. “024. I think it belonged to the cow number 24. You know, from the 30 that jumped.”
“It’s possible.”
Right now I'm only using digits. Should I change some of them to letters? (I always get confused about this. Is there a general rule that tells you when to use letters and when to use digits?)
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1 answer
My general rules, adapted from AP style:
- In narrative prose, use digits for 10 through 99.
- Use digits for 100 and above unless the number can be expressed in two words (like two thousand or five hundred or a hundred million).
- In dialogue, write out all numbers. You don't say "47," you say "forty-seven," as @what points out.
- Write out digits under 10 in prose and dialogue.
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