How does the MLA style 9/11, when it refers to the attacks on the United States on that date?
In our publications, we allow either September 11 or 9/11. Whichever form is chosen must be used consistently throughout a work.
Published 24 June 2019
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Should there be a space between a time and a.m. and p.m. in both prose and works-cited-list entries?
Yes. In MLA style, there should always be a space between the time and a.m. and p.m.:
Responding to the MLA Style Center post “Apostrophes,” Doug asked, on 30 March 2018, at 1:16 p.m., whether one should write “Albert Camus’ novel or Albert Camus’s novel.”
Work Cited
Doug. Comment on “Apostrophes: One Mark, Three Ways.” The MLA Style Center, 30 Mar. 2018, 1:16 p.m., style.mla.org/apostrophes-three-ways/.
Published 7 May 2019
How do I style percentages?
The general guideline is to use the percentage symbol with numerals and to use the word percent with spelled-out numbers.
In statistical copy that calls for frequent use of numbers, it’s appropriate to use numerals, and so the percentage symbol would be used, as in the following example, drawn from a report on a census of language enrollments:
Japanese enrollments increased by 3.1%, from 66,771 in 2013 to 68,810 in 2016; Korean enrollments increased by 13.7%, from 12,256 in 2013 to 13,936 in 2016. (Looney and Lusin 3)
In prose that does not make extensive use of numbers, as in the example below,
Published 14 November 2018
How do I style a percentage at the start of a sentence?
Since you should never begin a sentence with a numeral, you should first try to reword the sentence. If you find it unwieldy to reorder your words, spell out the number:
Seventy-six percent of the class barely passed the final, 18% flunked miserably, and 6% burst into tears.
Normally you shouldn’t mix words and numerals, but you can make an exception to avoid having a number at the start of a sentence.
Published 19 April 2018
Can you use between or from and to with a number range expressed using numerals and an en dash?
You can express a number range using words (“from . . . to”):
The party will take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Or you can use an en dash:
The party will take place 6 p.m.–10 p.m.
But you cannot combine words (“from”) and an en dash to convey a range:
The party will take place from 6 p.m.–10 p.m.
The reason is that the dash does not stand in for “to”; it stands in for “from . . . to.” Thus “from” has nothing completing it.
Here’s another example:
Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four check their phones approximately seventy-four times each day.
Published 14 March 2018
How do I alphabetize a title that starts with a number in my works-cited list?
When you alphabetize your works-cited list, treat numbers in titles as though they were spelled out.
Let’s say, for example, you need to alphabetize entries for George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984, along with two entries for lyrics to songs by Radiohead thought to be inspired by Orwell’s novels, “2 + 2 = 5” and “Optimistic.” Treat 1984 as Nineteen Eighty-Four and “2 + 2 = 5” as “Two plus Two Equals Five,” and alphabetize the entries by their titles accordingly:
Orwell, George. Animal Farm: A Fairy Story. 1946.
Published 18 October 2016
What kind of number do I put in the parenthetical citation for a poem—a page number, a line number, or another part number?
The ultimate goal is to be concise and to cite what is most useful to the reader. For quotations from a poem in a print or online source, there are three common possibilities:
If the poem is short (no longer than a page or its online equivalent), do not cite any number in the text. The page number or Web location that appears in the poem’s works-cited-list entry will be specific enough to identify a borrowing from such a short text.
If the poem is longer than a page (or its online equivalent) and is published with explicit numbers marking lines or other parts (e.g.,
Published 29 February 2016