Numbers, Dates and Times

Ages
Use numbers for all ages: The 2-year-old child will be 3 years old next year.

Dollars
Use numbers to indicate dollar amount, followed by the written designation as needed: 5 cents; $60,000; $4 million to $5 million.

Numerals
Spell out numbers one through nine, and when any number begins a sentence. Use Arabic numbers for everything equal to or greater than 10. There were three students waiting in line. Eleven students were awarded the scholarship. More than 15 people attended the event.

Ordinal numbers
Spell out first through ninth when they indicate sequence in time or location: first base; the First Amendment; he was first in line. Starting with 10th use figures. Use 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. when the sequence has been assigned in forming names, primarily used in geographic, military and political designations: 1st Ward; 7th Fleet; 1st Sgt.

Over vs. More Than
More than is preferred with numerals: There were more than 20 members involved in the student organization.

Percent
Use the % sign when paired with a numeral, with no space, in most cases: Average hourly pay rose 3.1% from a year ago. In casual uses, use words rather than figures and numbers: She said he has a zero percent chance of winning. If it's necessary to start a sentence with a percentage, spell out both: Eighty-nine percent of sentences don't have to begin with a number.

Phone Numbers
Do not add 1 before phone numbers with an area code: 850.474.2212. Phone numbers should be formatted with periods.

Times
Use figures, except for noon (12 p.m.) and midnight (12 a.m.). Use a colon to separate hours from minutes: 11 a.m.; 4:15 p.m. Do not use :00 if the time is on the hour: Please join us from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., or 3 to 5 p.m.

Dates
When a month is used with a specific date, abbreviate only Jan., Feb. Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.: The center opened on Oct. 4, 2011. Spell out when it is used alone, or with a year alone: The center opened in October 2011. When using the day of the week in dates, spell out the day: The grand opening is on Friday, March 3. If the year is included in a specific date, a comma should be placed after the year: The center opened on Oct. 4, 2011, with tremendous support.

Use hyphens to join ranges of years within the same century and shorten the second year: 1960-80, 2012-16, 1980-2010.

Time Zones
Generally, it’s not necessary to specify the time zone in a story. Include the time zone with the time, only if the story involves travel or other activities likely to affect people or developments in more than one time zone. Do not convert clock times in your time zone to local time in another time zone.

Capitalize the full name of time zones when included with clock times: Central Standard Time, Eastern Standard Time. Lowercase all but the region in references not accompanied by a clock reading: Eastern time, Chicago is in the Central time zone. The abbreviations EST, CDT, etc., are acceptable on first reference for zones used within the continental United States, Canada and Mexico only if the abbreviation is used with a clock reading: noon EST, 9 a.m. PST.