Cheryl Norman, Grammar Cop :-)

Lena asks: When listing an address in a sentence in a manuscript, how do you recommend I list it? Should I spell out the numbers? If so, do I use dashes between them?For example, if the address is 357 North Elm Street, would I state that in my sentence or would I spell out three fifty seven? This is especially relevant because my sentence starts with the address and it looks funny starting the sentence with 357.

Don’t start a sentence with a numeral. If you must start the sentence with a number, spell it out. For instance: “Twelve hundred men died in that battle.”  or  “Ten thousand votes separated the two candidates.”  If it’s a compound number, you may need to hyphenate for clarity.  “Twenty-three men and seven women showed up for the meeting.”Don’t start a sentence with a numeral. If you must start the sentence with a number, spell it out. For instance: “Twelve hundred men died in that battle.”  or  “Ten thousand votes separated the two candidates.”  If it’s a compound number, you may need to hyphenate for clarity.  “Twenty-three men and seven women showed up for the meeting.”As for when to spell out and when to use numerical characters, a general rule is if it’s less than 100, spell it out; 100+ uses numerals. (Note: Don’t mix numerals and spelled-out numbers within a sentence.) Some publishers disagree with this and make the cut-off 1000 instead of 100.

But all this is beside the point. You are asking about an address. Frankly, I always use numerals for addresses, hether it’s 1401 Tenth Street or 14 Tenth Street. Just remember when including in a sentence to use the accepted format for addresses, which means a comma after the street address, after the city, AND after the state, unless the state ends the sentence. For instance, “She lived at 1401 Tenth Street, Birmingham, Alabama, until she was twelve.”

Hope this helps!