There are many things in grammar that gives people a hard time when writing them. The usage of numbers in sentences is one of them, a big one. It can be confusing trying to figure out if a number should be written out or not. One important thing to keep in mind is to never start a sentence with a numeral, write it out.
ex:
wrong: 1992 began with good omens.
right: Nineteen ninety two began with good omens.
Here are some other things about numbers to keep in mind.
If what you are writing includes an infrequent use of numbers, write them out. When making plurals, normal noun rules apply: six becomes sixes. If the writing includes a frequent use of numbers like dates or statistical findings you use the numerals for numbers that are followed by a technical unit of measure for example, 5 milliliters, 10 mile. When you use normal number to indicate an amount you write the number out until you get to the number 10 then you can use the figures to indicate how much of something.
ex:
John has 5 more years of school before he becomes a doctor.
A person has to go to school for twelve years before they can graduate and go to college.
When you are writing dates you want to be consistent. For dates you can either use the day-month-year style: 26 August 1982 or the month-day-year style: August 26, 1982. If you use the month-day-year style you need to use a comma after the day, and you never use both styles in the same piece. You can't use one style in one sentence and the other in another sentence. Keep using the same style to have a unified look throughout the piece. Decades get written out without the use of capitals, the eighties, but you can also use the figures: 1980's or the 80's. Again whichever you use, use it throughout the your article or paper. To indicate time you can use the figures such as 2:00 p.m. Though there are exceptions to the rule. Those exceptions are quarter, half and o'clocks for example quarter to five, half past twelve, and seven o'clock. Those are the times when time indicators get written out.
Using numbers in writing you should be consistent. Numbers can be difficult to use and know the best way to use them. It doesn't take long to get the hang of using numbers in papers, articles and the such, but you should practice incorporating them, so you do get used to it.
