Grammar girl here, today's topic is units of measure, those words and symbols that come

after numbers.

This first point may seem self-evident.

You put a space between the number and the unit of measure.

Even though it seems obvious, I'm telling you because I've seen people do it wrong,

and there are also exceptions to the rule.

For example, if you want to say you threw a ball a hundred feet.

There's a space between the number one hundred and the whole word feet, obvious, right?

But what if you use the abbreviation Ft instead of the word feet?

It's the same rule, there's a space between a hundred and Ft, and if you just think

of the abbreviation as a word, it should be easy to remember.

But I've seen them squished together without a space many times.

Most style guides do recommend writing out units of measure, for example, using the word

feet instead of the abbreviation Ft, unless you're writing a technical or scientific document.

But abbreviations are acceptable in tables in other kinds of writing too.

Sometimes I think people get confused because there are a few exceptions to that rule.

For example, percent, degrees, and foot and inch symbols.

But it helps to remember that these exceptions occur when you're using symbols instead

of abbreviations.

For example, if you're writing out the words a hundred degrees, there's a space between

the number one hundred and the word degrees.

But if you're using the degree symbol, that little superscript circle, you butt it up

...