Identify the sentence that uses numbers and abbreviations correctly. A. My professor assigned 5 homework problems.
B. One tbsp. equals fifteen milliliters.
C. 20 horses are in the field.
D. The main cave at Lascaux is called the Great Hall of Bulls: e.g., it has a picture of bulls and horses in many colors.
Okay. this one is a bit tricky for me. I know A and C are wrong due to the fact that they do not spell out the numbers. However, I am torn between B and D. I think B could be the right one because D looks like it put in a colon instead of another comma. I'm not entirely sure as to how this really works. If someone could explain this to me, I would really appreciate it!
The correct one is D. It uses numbers and abbreviations correctly.
Ah, okay. The colon threw me off. Thanks for the help! I appreciate it!
You're welcome. :-)
Certainly! Let's break it down.
A. My professor assigned 5 homework problems.
This sentence is incorrect because it uses the numeral "5" instead of spelling out the number "five". In formal writing, it is generally preferred to spell out numbers from one through ten.
B. One tbsp. equals fifteen milliliters.
This sentence uses numbers and abbreviations correctly. It starts with the spelled-out number "one", uses the abbreviation "tbsp." for tablespoon, and correctly writes out the number "fifteen". Note that in scientific or technical writing, using abbreviations like "tbsp." is acceptable.
C. 20 horses are in the field.
Similar to sentence A, this sentence is incorrect because it uses the numeral "20" instead of spelling out the number "twenty".
D. The main cave at Lascaux is called the Great Hall of Bulls: e.g., it has a picture of bulls and horses in many colors.
This sentence uses a colon (:) correctly. The colon is used to introduce an example in this case. However, it is worth mentioning that the use of "e.g.," (meaning "for example") should be followed by a comma instead of a colon. So, the correct usage would be: The main cave at Lascaux is called the Great Hall of Bulls, e.g., it has a picture of bulls and horses in many colors.
Based on this explanation, the sentence that uses numbers and abbreviations correctly is B. One tbsp. equals fifteen milliliters.