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Victo Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Okay to punctuation in all below

Okay to punctuation in all below?


The play lasted two hours twenty minutes forty seconds.


a two-hour twenty-minute forty-second play


And would you use numbers instead?


The play lasted 2 hours 20 minutes and 40 seconds.


or:


The play lasted 2 hours 20 minutes 40 seconds.



a 2-hour, 20-minute, 40-second play


or:


a 2-hour 20-minute 40-second play


Thanks.
  

Top answer

You do not seem to be getting replies, so let me just comment that I wouldn't write it in any of those ways. But I don't think you want other suggestions. Clive

  • You do not seem to be getting replies, so let me just comment that I wouldn't write it in any of those ways.
  • But I don't think you want other suggestions.
  • Clive
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5 Answers
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You do not seem to be getting replies, so let me just comment that I wouldn't write it in any of those ways.
But I don't think you want other suggestions.

Clive
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Sure. I’m open to other suggestions.
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In a literary kind of context.
The play lasted two hours, twenty minutes and forty seconds.

In a business kind of context.
The play lasted 2 hours
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Thank you, Clive.

For the compound modifiers, would you agree with these?

two-hour, twenty-minute and forty-second play

a two-hour, twenty-minute, forty-second play
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I'm not familiar with what the style guides suggest about this. I just know how I would naturally say it. And it wouldn't be like that.

Clive

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