Fractions and Decimals

Fractions

Write out and hyphenate standalone fractions.

Examples

• Correct: two-thirds, three-fourths

• Incorrect: ⅔, ¾

Mixed fractions

Write out mixed fractions only when they begin a sentence. When a mixed fraction is expressed numerically, leave a space between the whole number and the fraction.

Examples

• Correct: The recipe calls for 3 ⅓ cups of flour.

  • Three and one-third cups of flour are needed for the cake.

• Incorrect: The recipe calls for three and one-third cups of flour.

  • 3 ⅓ cups of flour are needed for the cake.

When you express fractions in numbers, they need to be smaller (⅓) and not in their original size (1/3). Google Docs does this formatting on its own for some fractions (unless you have disabled this in Preferences), but you will need to find the Unicode character for fractions that Docs does not format. You can find online tools to do this by searching for "unicode fraction generator."

Decimals

Write out decimals using digits. For decimals between -1 and 1, use a zero before the decimal point (except for niche cases where it is non-standard to do so, such as with gun calibers).

Examples

• Correct: 0.39, .44 Magnum

• Incorrect: zero point three nine, thirty-nine hundredths, .39, 0.44 Magnum

See also

💲CurrencyHyphen