How To Write Clearly With Numbers
Numbers are tricky things to include in your writing. Mess up the order and you can change the entire meaning; use the wrong modifier and your reader can end up confusing the details. The more significant those figures are, the greater the impact any mistake can bring.
Even worse, even the best grammar software isn’t likely to pick up faulty use of numbers. The good news is, you don’t need to brush up on math skills in order to get it right. For the most part, all you have to do is pay close attention to the figures you are using.
When writing number ratios, logic is crucial. You have to use the correct words to effectively convey the numeric relationship. Getting it wrong, such as writing “five times less than” instead of “five less than,” can change the essence of an entire paragraph.
There are three things to pay particular attention to when you use numbers in text.
- You need to match the right numbers with the right nouns (getting them mixed up is more common than you think)
- You must use the correct comparative adjectives (as in the above example, “times less than” is not the same as “less than”), carefully choosing them to express the numeric relation.
- You have to invert ratios without destroying the meaning, applying the process to both numbers and words used in the text.