# How do you write a "4" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 3, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319 "2019-12-03T17:48:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/21 "2019-12-04T13:46:39Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I did a lot of mechanical drafting and architectural drawings throughout school and they had a specific script they wanted you to stick to. It included the closed top 4 as well as the snowman 8, flat top 3, and non-looping 2. It just stuck with me over the years. Yep, same here, woodwork at school and engineering drawing at varsity. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/22 "2019-12-04T13:52:28Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I did a lot of mechanical drafting and architectural drawings throughout school and they had a specific script they wanted you to stick to. It included the closed top 4 as well as the snowman 8, flat top 3, and non-looping 2. It just stuck with me over the years. What is a non-looping 2? So that it looks identical to a Z? ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/23 "2019-12-04T13:56:14Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > What is a non-looping 2? So that it looks identical to a Z? You just typed one. It does not look like a Z, see: 2. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/24 "2019-12-04T13:57:25Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Closed top, one continuous action instead of 2. But there is of course no one right answer. Lets not be silly. I just looked at some old notes, it looks like if I’m writing quick I leave the 4 open quite often. So mine aren’t consistent. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/25 "2019-12-04T13:57:47Z")
I was about to choose open top, but then I just mindlessly wrote my numbers and realized I always slant the opening to the four. How closed it gets varies, but it’s always slanted. So I went with your third option. I think it looks better than the fully closed version. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/26 "2019-12-04T14:07:25Z")
0 - Sometimes I will put a diagonal straight line through it. 1 - Straight vertical line. 2 - Curve, then horizontal straight line on bottom. No loop in the lower left corner. 3 - Two straight lines, then a curve for the bottom. 4 - All straight lines, closed top. 5 - Vertical straight line, curve at the bottom, then a straight line for the top. 6 - I think there’s only one way to write a 6. 7 - Two straight lines, then a short horizontal line through it. 8 - Draw top circle, then draw bottom circle. 9 - Circle, then vertical straight line. ---
**Author:** ![Paintcharge](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/paintcharge/32/7946_2.png) [@Paintcharge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paintcharge)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/27 "2019-12-04T14:25:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Open top. Don’t like the handwritten version of the closed-top 4. > > (My printing eccentricities are writing a capital “E” like an epsilon (so like a backwards “3” with the curves), a lower-case “a” like the “a” in most non-italic fonts instead of the usual printed circle-and-line ɑ, and I guess I like to cross my 7s as well.) My capital E is written as an upside down capital F. I go down and over in one stroke, then middle bar, then top bar. The top bar occasionally gets omitted when going quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/28 "2019-12-04T14:28:52Z")
Back in the dark ages when I was “studying” engineering, I got in the habit of the closed 4, the 3 with a sharp corner on the top and loop on the bottom, snowman 8, etc. Haven’t done that in decades. For a long time, when I was living in Europe, I did the 7 with a line through it. Still do, occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/29 "2019-12-04T17:18:17Z")
I have a man who writes my fours for me. You people write your own fours? That’s just precious. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/30 "2019-12-04T18:53:16Z")
Convert to trinary logic and base-3 numbering; then 4s will be obsolete, especially 4-track Muntz Stereo-Paks. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/31 "2019-12-04T20:23:02Z")
For maximum confusion, I always write that number as 2[sup]2[/sup]. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/32 "2019-12-04T21:21:05Z")
Opened top with a side order of pie. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/33 "2019-12-04T21:27:36Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I use the open-top method, but I should switch to closed-top. Because then I could do it in one pen stroke, which would be more efficient. Maybe someday… I do closed-top, because it is easier, because it’s all one pen stroke. There are no other digits that require more than one pen stroke (assuming you’re not some weirdo who slashes their sevens or threes or whatevers). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/34 "2019-12-04T21:49:02Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I do closed-top, because it is easier, because it’s all one pen stroke. There are no other digits that require more than one pen stroke (assuming you’re not some weirdo who slashes their sevens or threes or whatevers). True; you can do a 5 in one pen stroke. But it always feels unnatural to me somehow, and never looks proper. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/35 "2019-12-04T23:07:04Z")
I learned the open-top method, but my sloppy writing is closer to the partially-open top. It is not a deliberate affectation. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/36 "2019-12-04T23:36:37Z")
I was taught open-top, which my dad vaguely disapproved of. He was more strongly against the new-fangled fives. I did them, as taught, in three strokes, starting at the top right, without lifting the pencil. He used the same number of strokes, but started at the top left, went down and around, then raised the pencil to put the top on separately. Sometimes there was a little gap between the upright and the across and often the across had an upward slant. He said it kept a 5 from looking like an S. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/37 "2019-12-04T23:46:31Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I was taught open-top, which my dad vaguely disapproved of. He was more strongly against the new-fangled fives. I did them, as taught, in three strokes, starting at the top right, without lifting the pencil. He used the same number of strokes, but started at the top left, went down and around, then raised the pencil to put the top on separately. Sometimes there was a little gap between the upright and the across and often the across had an upward slant. > > He said it kept a 5 from looking like an S. Yeah, I do mine like your dad did. Down, curve, pick up the pen and across the top. I was taught in the 80s. I don’t remember really being taught right-to-left strokes for straight lines. I’m trying to think of all the letters and numbers I was taught, and all horizontal lines are left-to-right. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2019, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/38 "2019-12-04T23:51:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I have a man who writes my fours for me. You people write your own fours? That’s just precious. Seriously. Only the little people use closed-top fours. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/39 "2019-12-05T01:55:22Z")
For me: 0, 1, and 2 are x-height 3, 4, 5, 7, and 9 have descenders 6 and 8 have ascenders 1 has a serif at the top 2 is loopless 4 is closed 7 is crossed 9 is all curved 0, 1, 2, 3, 6, 8 are one stroke 4, 5, 7, 9 are two stroke ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319/40 "2019-12-05T02:26:09Z")
8th grade drafting class… Teacher said “Feed your fours!” Don’t recall any specific versions of the 3 or 2 with him. Just “close the mouth” on the 4. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-write-a-4/844319.md?page=3)