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Numbers and finance
Posted by: Jacob Funnell
03 / 05 / 16
Numbers can play a crucial role in many of your documents at work. But beware of the trap of thinking that data can speak for itself. You need to do that part. Figures can back up your claims with evidence and help draw attention to your most important facts, trends and comparisons. If what you’re […]
Posted by: Catie Holdridge
23 / 09 / 15
Things can get complicated when big numbers or long division are involved – not least when you have to write numbers out. The question even extends to the punctuation you should use – especially hyphens. For instance, do you need hyphens in long numbers when you write them as words? Or in ages? What about […]
Posted by: James Ball
05 / 08 / 14
Being able to write about numbers well is a core skill. But it can become needlessly fraught – mainly because those who find maths straightforward often don’t understand why it’s difficult for others to grasp. Luckily, there are three principles that can take the pain out of the process: simplify, signpost and be specific. 1. […]
Posted by: Cathy Dann
20 / 05 / 14
Last week, in our post on units and spaces, we asked you to take a short survey. We’re delighted to report that 130 people did – and here are the results. Overall, most of you were in favour of closing up the number and unit, with four fifths preferring ‘1.75cm’ to ‘1.75 cm’. However, this […]
07 / 05 / 14
Recently a reader asked us whether it was correct to put a space between a number and a unit (eg ‘4 cm’), or to close them up (‘4cm’). Well, what a can of contradictory worms that turned out to be. When it comes to units of measure, it seems some like to get up close […]
11 / 02 / 11
Those who see themselves more as ‘number people’ than ‘word people’ might be surprised to learn that their understanding of numbers is actually dependent on language. New research has found that, without language, it is impossible to properly comprehend larger quantities. The findings come from a study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy […]
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