. <\/em><\/p>\nIt clarifies that:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\u201cUnit symbols are printed in upright type regardless of the type used in the surrounding text.
\nThey are printed in lower-case letters unless they are derived from a proper name, in which
\ncase the first letter is a capital letter.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nThat means that writers should write abbreviated unit names without capitalizing them, unless they appear at the beginning of a sentence or in a headline or title, and that unit names should not be italicized. For instance:<\/p>\n
\n- \u201cThe length of the blade is 9 inches\u201d \u2014 not<\/strong> 9 Inches or 9 inches<\/em>.<\/li>\n
- \u201cPeople are being warned to keep a distance of at least 2 feet.\u201d<\/li>\n
- \u201cGallons of milk were spilled in the grocery store today,\u201d however. A capital is used to signify the start of a sentence.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
What about situations in which you have decided to use the shorter form to denote the measurement \u2014 as in \u201ccm\u201d, \u201cin\u201d, or \u201ckg\u201d? We have all come to see these as abbreviations, but the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures is very clear that they\u2019re not; these are considered \u201cunit symbols\u201d and \u201cmathematical entities\u201d instead. <\/em><\/p>\nTherefore, they are not capitalized, and not followed by a period. It is not considered correct to write them immediately following the relevant numbers, either \u2014 you have to leave a space. Let\u2019s take a look at some relevant correct and incorrect examples:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n- It would be correct to write \u201c66 m2<\/sup>\u201d to denote 66 square meters, but removing the space would render the writing incorrect. <\/em><\/li>\n
- Write \u201c25 g of protein per serving\u201d, and not \u201c25g\u201d. <\/em><\/li>\n
- Write \u201c15 lb\u201d and not \u201c15 lb.\u201d or \u201c15 lbs\u201d.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
There are some notable exceptions:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n- The unit symbol for liters may be capitalized or placed in lower case, as in \u201cL\u201d or \u201cl\u201d. Both are correct.<\/em><\/li>\n
- When referring to inches, a period is added \u2014 as in \u201c6 in.\u201d. This is done to prevent the unit symbol from being confused with the preposition \u201cin\u201d. <\/em><\/li>\n
- You may also use foot and inch marks. These are straight quotes, and not quote marks. \u201cI am 5' 3\". To achieve this effect in Microsoft Word, simply type quote marks and then use the \u201cundo\u201d command.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Do not abbreviate metric and imperial units by saying \u201c80 sq. ft.\u201d or similar ways \u2014 simply use the unit symbols, or write the entire unit name out.<\/em><\/p>\nWhen it comes to temperature, the unit names Celsius and Fahrenheit are capitalized. <\/strong><\/em>This is because they were named after the scientists who defined the scales, and are therefore proper nouns. You therefore refer to \u201c220 degrees Fahrenheit\u201d or \u201c33 degrees Celsius\u201d. If you wish to abbreviate, you do so by using the proper symbol, not followed by a space:<\/em><\/p>\n\n- 220 \u00b0F<\/em><\/li>\n
- 33 \u00b0C<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Writing Measurements: What About Decimal Points?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nA period is used to indicate a decimal point in the United States, as in 2,500.25 \u2014 but in many other countries, including European countries, the convention is to use commas instead, as in 2.500,25. You will note that the period and comma have switched places in this case. <\/em><\/p>\nHow to Write Measurements: Additional Tips<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\nNumerous more units of measurement exist; we cannot cover them all. Examples range from familiar ones like hours, amperes, and calories to units of measurement that most people do not use in their daily lives, like microns (\u03bc) and ohms (\u2126).<\/p>\n
When in doubt, consult the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures\u2019 International System of Units document. This documents is freely available on the internet \u2014 and linked above for your convenience. <\/em><\/p>\nLikewise, depending on your goal in writing measurements, you may need to consult the relevant style guide to discover whether it is preferable to write out unit names or to choose unit symbols instead. For general use, however, this is not important. If you are writing a blog post, high school essay, or listing your home for sale on a real estate website, you get to pick between unit names and symbols yourself. <\/em><\/p>\nFAQ<\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\nDoes it matter whether I write unit names or unit symbols?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nOutside of mathematical equations, both are equally practical and correct. You may choose unit names if you are writing for the general public and want to ensure that everyone understands what you are talking about, and unit names in technical writing \u2014 as it can help you be more succinct. <\/em><\/p>\nI constantly see people write \u201c6g\u201d and \u201c8ft\u201d \u2014 are you sure that I need to add a space?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nThe internet is quickly changing conventions \u2014 which can be defined as common practice embraced by the majority of people. However, you wanted to know how to write measurements correctly, and adding a space is still considered the correct choice. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Are you writing an essay, white paper, or any other piece of technical writing? Do you have to include measurements of any kind? It might seem like writing measurements is entirely straightforward at first, but you would be surprised. This guide will delve into the conventions you need to be aware of to write measurements […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2680"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2743,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2680\/revisions\/2743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}