Symbols, measurement and currency

Percentages (%)

The percentage sign (%) should be used in place of the word ‘percent’ after numbers:

What was saidHow to format
The economy contracted by 0.5 percent last week.The economy contracted by 0.5% last week.
Currency ($)

Currency should be represented with a $ symbol before the number, and following other number rules:

What was saidHow to format
Two thousand, five hundred dollars.$2,500.
Three point four billion dollars.$3.4 billion.
It cost ten dollars.It cost $10.
  • Foreign currency, if dollars, should be written with the two letter abbreviation:
What was saidHow to format
Twenty-four Australian dollars.AU $24.
I spent fifty New Zealand dollars.I spent NZ $50.
  • Informal currency expressions should be captioned as heard:

e.g. 20 grand, 50 bucks, 40 quid.

What was saidHow to format
I won twenty grand! I won 20 grand!
You owe me fifty bucks.You owe me fifty 50 bucks.
Forty quid.40 quid.
Measurement

Metric units of measurement should be abbreviated for readability and be represented as digits:

What was saidHow to format
Four metres.4m.
Ten centimetres.10cm.
One hundred kilometres.100km.
Five litres.5L.

Imperial units of measurement should be written out as words, with numbers one to ten written as words and 11+ as digits:

What was saidHow to format
She is six feet.She is six feet.
The line is eleven inches.The line is 11 inches.

More questions? See our Recorded Captioning Style Guide.

Updated on June 27, 2022

Was this article helpful?

Related Articles