A Dictionary of Cont..

numerals 328
numerals.
CARDINAL NUMBERS
The cardinal numbers larger than one, such
as three, five, ninety-nine, are primarily adjectives
and qualify plural nouns, as in the two
men. But when they refer to part of a specified
group they must be treated as nouns and
followed by the preposition of, as in two of the
men.
A hyphen is always used in a compound
cardinal, such as twenty-one, fifty-four.
The large numbers, such as hundred,
thousand, the fractions, and a few other number
words such as couple, dozen, score, are primarily
nouns that have taken on some of the adjective
functions of the cardinal numbers. Some
of these changes are now standard English, such
as a dozen eggs, and some, such as a couple
dollars, are not. (For more specific information,
see the individual words.)
Expressions involving cardinals greater than
one are usually treated as plurals, as in these
fen men were ready. But they may also be
treated as singulars when the individual elements
are thought of as a unit, as in this three
days was wasted and there was two hundred
dollars in the purse. When the numbers themselves
are thought of, as in arithmetic, the
words are being treated as nouns, not adjectives,
and are usually considered singular, as in twenty
is greater than fifteen and two times three is six.
But this is not followed consistently and in
multiplication and addition a plural verb is
sometimes used, as in fwo times three are six.
In written material that contains a great
many numbers, figures are better than words
and should be used as much as possible. As a
rule a figure is not used at the beginning of a
sentence. But when a number is very large, as
in 3,982 questionnaires were returned, some
writers begin the sentence with a figure rather
than write out such a difficult number or recast
the sentence into a less direct statement. Figures
are also preferred to numbers in footnotes,
where space should be saved. When all numbers
are being expressed in figures, it is important
to remember that the word one is not always
a number. It is not a number in one would
think and it usually is not a number in one day
we saw a bird. See one.
In writing that is not primarily statistical
the first word in a sentence is never a figure.
Otherwise, figures are always used for dates,
addresses, page numbers, decimals, and any
number that cannot be expressed in two words.
That is, we write out ninety-nine and fifteen
thousand but not 102 or 350. Generally, when
one number in a sentence must be expressed in
figures any others in the same sentence are
also expressed in figures as in between 90 and
120.
ORDINAL NUMBERS
The ordinal numbers. such as third. fifth.
ninety-ninth, name positions in a series: They
are primarily adjectives and qualify singular
nouns, as in the second man. Occasionally an
ordinal is followed by of and a plural noun, as
in the second of the men. This is an awkward
expression and seldom means anything different
from the second man.
Theoretically, expressions involving ordinals
are singular and should be followed by a singular
verb, as in the second ten boxes is ready to
go. Here the word second qualifies the noun
ten, which is understood as a unit. But the group
may also be thought of as a plural, and we may
say the second ten boxes are ready to go. Both
forms are acceptable.
A hyphen is always used in compound
ordinals, as in twenty-firsi, fifty-fourth. An
ordinal is sometimes written in figures in a
date, as in January 12th. This is now slightly
old fashioned and January 12 is generally
preferred. In any other context, ordinals are
written out in words.
Adverbs are formed from the ordinals by
adding -ly, as in thirdly, fijthly, ninety-ninthly.
These are used chiefly in numbering the steps
in an argument or sermon. Simple ordinals
would serve the purpose just as well.
(The words first and last are not pure ordinals;
see first and last.)
POSITION
In a series of adjectives, cardinal and ordinal
numbers both follow the definitive adjectives,
such as the, this, my, any.
A cardinal number is sometimes treated as
a name to distinguish one object from other
similar ones, as in page IO, chapter 3, room 20.
In such cases the numeral follows the common
noun. The names of monarchs are sometimes
followed by a numeral, as Louis XIV, George
III. In such cases the number is written in
Roman numerals and is read as an ordinal, as
Louis the Fourteenth. George the Third. With
these two exceptions,’ a numeral regularly precedes
the noun it qualifies. Any reversal of this,
such as Soldiers Three, is an unnatural order
and should only be used when the strange effect
is what is wanted.
When the two are standing together, an
ordinal number always precedes a cardinal, as
in the second trvo dozen eggs. This order is
never reversed unless the ordinal is being used
in a peculiar sense, as when a bridge club offers
ten second prizes.
MULTIPLICATIVES
The words once, twice, thrice, four times,
and so on, are called multiplicatives. They are
adverbs and may qualify a verb or a cardinal
number. They cannot qualify a noun, but they
may stand before a definitive adjective and have
the effect of qualifying the noun, as in it has
twice the population of Canada. The words
single, double, triple, quadruple, five-fold, and
so on, are primarily descriptive adjectives and
qualify nouns. But they may also be placed
before a definitive adjective, as in double the
population of Canada. They are then being
used as multiplicative adverbs.
A cardinal numeral followed by of may
also be used as a multiplicative in a com-