Spell out one to nine in full and use figures for numbers 10 and above:

<aside> ✅ He got the paper two weeks ago, but has five others to read first.

</aside>

<aside> ✅ She took 10 dresses and 17 pairs of shoes to the charity shop.

</aside>

This goes out of the window if you have numbers both above and below nine in the same sentence. In this case, use figures throughout:

<aside> ✅ This book is aimed at 8 to 11-year-olds.

</aside>

Likewise, only ever use figures in tables. You can also use them in headlines or quotes if you don't have much space, or on posters showing statistics:

<aside> ✅ Number 1 in the UK

</aside>

Large numbers

Write out thousand, million, billion and trillion for people or animals. Write one to nine in full and a mix of figures and words for 10 or over:

<aside> ✅ seven million llamas

</aside>

<aside> ✅ 11 thousand students

</aside>

But write "m", "bn" and "trn" for sums of money, units or inanimate objects:

<aside> ✅ 10tn cells

</aside>

<aside> ✅ 45m tonnes of coal

</aside>

Never use "k" for thousand – write it out in full or in figures: