Monday, April 3, 2017

hyphenation - proper grammar of multiple numbers ordered sequentially specifying different things



I have a sentence submitted to me from someone else that says



One case (8 - one lb. boxes) of...


What is the proper grammar to say eight one pound boxes? I'm not sure what the best format is for this situation. Maybe one of these is acceptable:




eight 1-lb. boxes
eight one lb. boxes
8 one pound boxes
8 one-pound boxes
eight one-pound boxes


Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Answer



I would go with either of your last two examples. The hyphen links 'one-pound' as a unit, which is also a single adjective. You want eight boxes, and each of them is a one-pound box.



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