10.1.11. Forward slash

The forward slash may be used to mean ‘per’ and in fractions, to denote a 12-month period that does not coincide with a calendar year and to give alternatives.

The forward slash may be used to mean ‘per’ (km/h) and in fractions (19/100).

Marketing years, financial years, etc. that do not coincide with calendar years are denoted by a forward slash, e.g. 1991/1992, which is 12 months, rather than by an en dash or hyphen, e.g. 2013–2014 (or 2013-2014), which means two years.

The forward slash is often used to give alternatives, as in ‘yes/no/maybe’. It is closed up when separating single words, but is written with a space either side when one or more of the alternatives is a compound term: