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This workout focuses on paragraphs 9.2–8 in CMOS 18. Advanced editors might tackle the questions cold; learners can study that section of the Manual before answering the questions.

Subscribers to The Chicago Manual of Style Online may click through to the linked sections of the Manual. (We also offer a 30-day free trial of CMOS Online.)

Note: Dictionaries and style guides sometimes disagree. These questions are designed to test your knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style, which prefers the dictionary at Merriam-Webster.com. Other style guides may follow a different dictionary.

Now updated to refer and link to the 18th edition.

Chicago Style Workout 25: Numerals Versus Words

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1. In nontechnical contexts, Chicago advises spelling out whole numbers (cardinal and ordinal) from zero through one hundred:

The third parking lot will provide space for 540 more cars.

Thirty-two children from eleven families were packed into eight vintage Beetles.

True

False

2. Numbers over one hundred are always expressed in numerals:

Most provincial theaters were designed to accommodate large audiences—from about 700 spectators in a small city like Lorient to as many as 2,000 in Lyon and Marseille.

True

False

3. In a context with many large numbers—especially if round numbers occur alongside numerals that are not round—it may be best to opt for numerals for all such numbers.

True

False

4. Though a year expressed as a numeral may begin a sentence if necessary (“1937 was marked, . . .”), it is usually preferable to reword (e.g., by starting with “The year”):

The year 1937 was marked, among other things, by the publication of the eleventh edition of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations.

True

False

5. Chicago style avoids and in such expressions as two thousand one, two thousand ten, two thousand fifty, and the like.

True

False

6. In Chicago style, the letters in ordinal numbers should normally appear as superscripts (e.g., 122^nd, not 122nd).

True

False

7. In the same sentence or paragraph, items in one category may be given as numerals and items in another spelled out:

A mixture of buildings—one of 103 stories, five of more than 50, and a dozen of only 3 or 4—has been suggested for the area.

True

False

8. If a number beginning a sentence is followed by another number of the same category, spell out only the first (or reword):

One hundred eighty of the 214 candidates had law degrees; the remaining 34 were doctoral candidates in fish immunology.

True

False

9. Where many numbers occur within a paragraph or a series of paragraphs, it’s best to maintain consistency in the immediate context:

Between 1,950 and 2,000 people attended the concert.

True

False

10. Numerals rather than words are normally used with abbreviations for quantities and the like:

3 lb.
3 mph
10 km
72 dpi

True

False

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Photo: Cardio challenge workout class, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, NC, February 22, 2010 (US Air Force photo/Senior Airman Ciara Wymbs).

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