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Numbers at the Beginning of a Sentence 296 Views


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Transcript

00:07

Numbers at the beginning of sentences, a la Shmoop.

00:11

Two hundred million five hundred and twenty-three thousand people in the United States have

00:15

seen the original Star Wars.

00:17

There are two things you should know about that number. One: We made it up.

00:23

Two: You should do whatever you have to, including allowing yourself to be frozen in carbonite

00:27

and turned into wall art...

00:28

...to avoid starting a sentence with a number. Here's why. Say the number at the beginning

00:34

of the sentence is small, like “twelve”.

00:36

“Twelve Stormtroopers went out for pizza.” That's easy for the reader to process, right?

00:41

However, the number “seven hundred and twenty thousand eight hundred and two”, when written

00:47

out, is quite long.

00:48

While your reader is probably willing to put up with a sentence like, “Twelve Ewoks got

00:52

smooshed by a Walker”...

00:53

...no one wants to read, “Seven hundred and twenty thousand eight hundred and two

00:57

Ewoks reside on Endor.” If you are bound and determined to mention

01:01

those seven hundred and twenty thousand eight hundred and two Ewoks...

01:04

...then you should consider changing your sentence to something more manageable for

01:07

the reader, like, “There are 720,802 Ewoks on Endor.”

01:13

See, when you put a number anywhere in a sentence other than at its beginning...

01:17

...you can actually use numbers...

01:19

...instead of words. Here's the grammar rule one more time, in

01:22

case you're confused.

01:23

While Darth Vader is unlikely to pursue you across the galaxy for using a number like

01:28

“seven billion nine hundred and forty-two million three hundred and twelve thousand”

01:32

at the beginning of a sentence...

01:33

...your reader may not be quite so forgiving.

01:37

So, avoid starting a sentence with a number. Please. Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re our only

02:02

hope…

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