Number one in text?

[Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>]

bhenderson wondered: <<This may be obvious to some, but because "31" is 
also used in the same sentence, I'm stumped, and I did look for an 
answer. What is the correct way to render the number one in this 
sentence? "Enter a number greater than [one / 1] and less than 31.">>

Both "1" and "one" could be defended, but the most common guideline in 
editorial style guides is to avoid mixing numerals (31) with the words 
for numbers (one). This is a good choice for consistency, but I also 
recall reading in the cognitive psychology literature that numerals and 
words are processed differently by one's brain, and it's best not to 
force the reader to switch between the two modes of processing: thus, 
compare apples with apples.

A side note: As written, only numbers 2, 3.... 30 are legal numbers. If 
1 is permitted, change the first part to "greater than 0" or "greater 
than or equal to 1".

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Geoff Hart   ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
www.geoff-hart.com
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