The difference between zero hour and zero-hours

Today’s English
April 27th, 2017

Numbers are frequently used in our daily speech and how to use them without errors is a matter of great concern. Let's see few of the errors committed in the usage of numbers.

1. Eleven is pronounced as “ileven” -  /ɪˈlev.ən/ ,  not as “leven".  Many people wrongly pronounce by making the first vowel sound silent.

2. In English, numbers from 21 to 99 except the rounded numbers(thirty, forty, etc.) must be written with a hyphen.

Twenty-five (Not twenty five)
Eighty-six (Not eighty six)

3. Objects in a list should be written in figures, not in words.
Go to page 6. (Not page six)
In chapter 3/Act 4, the hero appears. (Not chapter three/act four)

4. Figures should not be used in the beginning of any English sentence.

Five students attended the class. (Not 5 students attended the class)
Eighteen is the age that makes one eligible for voting. (Not 18 is...)

5. After decimal point, members should be read individually, not collectively.

0.56 – point five six (Not zero point fifty-six)
3.42 – three point four two (Not three point forty-two)

6. When you read or write, in fractions, remember this point. If the numerator is 1, the denominator is singular. If the numerator is more than 1, the denominator is plural.

¼ - one fourth (Not one fourths)
3/4 – three fourths (Not three fourth)
1/2 – one half (Not half/ one second)

7. Percent is different from percentage. The word percent is used along with a specific number but the word percentage is used without a specific number.

54 % - fifty-four percent (Not fifty-four percentage)
The percentage of girls passing the exam is always higher than that of boys. (Not percent...)

8. Zero is represented by different words in English:
Nil = nothing (mostly used in sports and games to point “no score")

The score of our team is nil. (Our team scored nothing)
The balance in stock register was nil. (Nothing)
Don't use zero in the above places.

9. Null is not zero. It means "having no value" not and "not valid "(Used in computing and legal context). Null is different from zero since the former refers to total absence of a value in a database field.

The cell showed null as I didn’t enter any data.
The old G.O  became null and void because of the new one.

10. Zero is followed by a plural noun, not by a singular one.
Pure water freezes at zero degrees Celsius. (Not zero degree)

Do you know? : There is a difference between zero hour and zero-hours. The time immediately following the question hour in parliament is zero hour that’s normally 12 noon.  But zero-hours refers to a kind of employment in which the workers are paid only for the hours they work. The part time staff members at Govt. Polytechnic colleges, being zero-hours employees are paid only on hourly basis.