3, 2, 1…Olympics!

The countdown to the 2024 Olympics is over. The ​opening ceremony​ takes place in Paris today, and if you want to win a gold medal in writing about the upcoming competitions, you’ll need to brush up on numbers.

As with ​capitalization​, there’s no one rule to follow for writing numbers, which is why it can be tricky. One standard is to spell out numbers one through nine and use numerals for 10 and higher.

You’ll be able to apply this logic when writing about how athletes and countries rank. The broad rule about writing out numbers one through nine applies to ordinals, such as first, second, 10th, etc.: France is currently in 12th place, while Kenya is in second.

But there are other scenarios that call for numerals only. For example, even though you would write out “eight hours” in a casual phrase such as, “I worked eight hours today,” you should still use numerals for race times: She finished the marathon in 2 hours, 24 minutes.

Then there are game scores. It’s probably not news to you that no matter how low, game scores are always written as numerals: Japan beat the U.S. 2–1, winning the country’s first Olympic baseball gold medal.

And when an athlete comes out on top, are they number one, Number 1, #1 or No. 1? A popular convention is No. 1 for official rankings.

Use "No. 1," "No. 2," etc., for official rankings: "Her album reached No. 1 on the charts." Otherwise, write out "number" and apply the general rule for numerals (spell out one through nine and use numerals for 10 and above): "His number one rule at meetings was no interruptions."

These nuances about writing numbers are just the beginning. There are dozens of topic-specific rules and exceptions to the one-through-nine principle. If you ask Stylebot about numbers, for example, there are 24 related topics you can explore.

As a general rule, numbers one through nine are spelled out, and figures are used for numbers 10 and higher. There are exceptions, though, such as with writing ages: "The girl is 4 years old." Spell out all numbers at the beginnings of sentences: “Twenty-one students were named to the board.” You should also write out numbers that are part of common sayings, such as "a thousand times no."

We don’t have plans for more Olympic-themed newsletters, but if you have questions as the Games are underway, don’t hesitate to let us know. We love to hear from you and often write newsletters based on subscribers’ questions.

In the meantime, go Team USA!

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