CCE Numbers, Abbreviations, and Special Characters 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: According to most major style guides, a number that begins a sentence should always be:
- Written as a numeral
- Spelled out (Correct answer)
- Replaced with an abbreviation
- Placed in parentheses
Correct answer: Spelled out
All major style guides (Chicago, AP, APA) require numbers that open a sentence to be spelled out, never expressed as numerals.
Question 2: Under Chicago Manual of Style, which number should be expressed as a numeral in running text?
- Forty-two employees
- Ninety-nine bottles
- One hundred and one uses
- 105 attendees (Correct answer)
Correct answer: 105 attendees
Chicago style spells out whole numbers from one through one hundred; 105 exceeds that threshold and takes a numeral.
Question 3: Which correctly uses an em dash in a sentence?
- Turn to pages 10–20.
- She arrived at 5–7 p.m.
- The cat—a tabby—sat on the mat. (Correct answer)
- He was born 1990—present.
Correct answer: The cat—a tabby—sat on the mat.
Em dashes set off parenthetical or interruptive elements within a sentence; en dashes, not em dashes, are used for numerical ranges.
Question 4: Which is the Chicago Manual of Style–preferred way to express a decade?
- the 1990's
- the 1990s (Correct answer)
- the '90's
- the nineteen-nineties
Correct answer: the 1990s
Chicago uses a simple plural without an apostrophe for decades (1990s), since no letters have been omitted from the number itself.
Question 5: What does the abbreviation 'i.e.' mean?
- For example
- And others
- That is (Correct answer)
- See also
Correct answer: That is
'I.e.' stands for the Latin 'id est,' meaning 'that is,' and introduces a restatement or clarification of what was just said.
Question 6: Which dash is correct for expressing a range of years in Chicago style (e.g., 2010 to 2015)?
- Hyphen: 2010-2015
- En dash: 2010–2015 (Correct answer)
- Em dash: 2010—2015
- Slash: 2010/2015
Correct answer: En dash: 2010–2015
Chicago style uses an en dash (–) to express numerical ranges, date spans, and time ranges.
Question 7: In AP style, how should a percentage appear in running text (as of the 2019 update)?
- five percent
- 5 percent
- 5% (Correct answer)
- five %
Correct answer: 5%
AP Stylebook updated its guidance in 2019 to use the % symbol with numerals in all cases rather than spelling out 'percent.'
CCE Numbers, Abbreviations, and Special Characters 1
According to most major style guides, a number that begins a sentence should always be: