Write time units right
Small letters, no s on the end, a space after the number.
Spot the mistake
Meera writes 5 secs and 3 hrs in her notebook. Her teacher says there are mistakes.
How should units of time be written?
What this lesson covers
The idea
Units of time and their symbols s, min and h are written in lowercase and singular, with no full stop after the symbol and a space between the number and the unit; 'sec' and 'hrs' are incorrect.
Spot the mistake
Meera writes 5 secs and 3 hrs in her notebook. Her teacher says there are mistakes.
How should units of time be written?
- In lowercase and singular, with a space after the number
- In capital letters with a full stop
- Any way you like
Find the right one
Tap the ways of writing. Find the correct one for each unit.
Four small rules
The right ones were 5 s, 12 min and 3 h. They are lowercase, singular, with no full stop, and with a space between the number and the unit.
Units of time and their symbols s, min and h are written in lowercase and singular, with no full stop after the symbol and a space between the number and the unit; 'sec' and 'hrs' are incorrect.
Notes
Units of time and their symbols s, min and h are written in lowercase and singular, with no full stop after the symbol and a space between the number and the unit; 'sec' and 'hrs' are incorrect.
Check yourself
Which is the correct way to write 5 seconds?
Which is the correct way to write 3 hours?
Which of these follows all the rules for writing time units?
Where is a full stop allowed after a time symbol?
- 5 sec. 'sec' is incorrect. The symbol for second is s.
- 5 s — correct. Yes!
- 5s. A space is needed between the number and the unit.
- 3 hrs. 'hrs' is incorrect. The symbol for hour is h, and it is singular.
- 3 H.. The symbol is lowercase and has no full stop.
- 3 h — correct. Yes!
- 20 min — correct. Yes!
- 20 mins. Symbols are written in singular. It is min, not mins.
- 20 Min.. The symbol must be lowercase with no full stop.
- Always after every symbol. No full stop is written after the symbol, except at the end of a sentence.
- Only at the end of a sentence — correct. Yes!
- Never, not even at the end of a sentence. At the end of a sentence the full stop belongs to the sentence, so it is allowed there.