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Latest post Mon, Jun 30 2008 12:14 PM by Mr Wordy. 1 replies.
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Anonymous  +  534478 Mon, 30 Jun 08 07:37 AM
Hi,

I think it is correct to say that the words "from" and "to" are not needed (should not be used??) when a hyphen is used to note the duration like these:

The meetings will be held Jan. 2 - March 1. (I don't think we need to write it as Jan. 2nd - March 1st. Or do we??)
Please put this notice on the bulleton board for two weeks, starting Aug. 11 and Aug 18 respectively.
Please put this notice on the bulleton board for two weeks, Aug 11 - Aug 15 and Aug 18 - Aug 22.
Mr Wordy  +  534552 Mon, 30 Jun 08 12:14 PM

Strictly speaking, to indicate date ranges (or numerical ranges) you should use a en dash, not a hyphen.

If you use a dash then you should not use "to" as well. As far as "from" is concerned, I personally don't like the style "from January 2 - March 1". If think that if you use "from" then you should also use "to" (i.e. "from January 2 to March 1").

Whether you write, e.g., "January 2" or "January 2nd" is a matter of style. There's no right or wrong answer. I prefer the "January 2" style as it seems less fussy. Strictly speaking, if you abbreviate month names then you should use a dot (e.g. "Jan." not "Jan") but lots of people omit it, and it's not something that bothers me one way or the other. However, in formal writing I would write out the month name in full.

Whichever way you choose, you should be consistent. You have three different styles mixed up here: unabbreviated name ("March"), abbreviated name with dot ("Aug.") and abbreviated name without dot ("Aug").

Your last two sentences sound strange to me. It sounds as if you want the notice taken down over the weekend, and then put up again, which seems kind of pointless. It would be more natural to just say "for two weeks, starting August 11".

It should be "bulletin", not "bulleton".

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