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Are there explicit rules for how ranges are communicated, or must they be understood by context or convention?

Examples:

  • If a store is open 9am-5pm, we assume the end of the period (5) is exclusive. I need to be out before 5pm.

  • 2nd world war was from 1939 to 1945. It ended on September 30, 1945. So the "1945" is inclusive.

  • If I'm invited to stay with a friend in their home Friday-Sunday, it is assumed I need to leave sometime during Sunday. The "Sunday" is inclusive.

  • If something is 5-8ft long, it can never be more than 8ft. The "8" is exclusive.

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    I think there's a typo: patter? or *pattern?
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Mar 27, 2022 at 13:13
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    Ranges do not follow rules. English isn’t algebra. Often, as you say, context or convention will dictate, but there are still a number of situations where there is no overarching guidance, and the language is simply ambiguous, and the only solution is to ask the person who specified the range.
    – Dan Bron
    Commented Mar 27, 2022 at 13:24
  • This is English! There are no rules!
    – Hot Licks
    Commented Mar 27, 2022 at 13:46
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    A plank 8ft 0.2 inch would doubtless be sorted into the '5 - 8ft' pile. Rounding needs to be taken into account; pragmatic interpretation in everyday language is different from precisionist interpretation.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Mar 27, 2022 at 14:07
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    If a business is open 9am-5pm you have a range between 2 points in time. In practice its doors aren't driven by a satellite or internet time signal and it's going to vary somewhat: some will let you stay a few minutes after to finish up, some will have you out the door at quarter to, and a cafe might stop serving at 4:30. This is why it depends on practice, convention, and margins of error.
    – Stuart F
    Commented Mar 27, 2022 at 14:17

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All your examples can be taken as inclusive of both ends. For example, the store closing time can be read as “leave by 5pm”.

There is no general convention regarding inclusion or exclusion of the end points, but context and convention can favour one or the other.

If you write the range out with words, you can be more prescriptive:

  • Get there by noon.
  • Get there before noon.
  • Get there after noon.

Typically, if the end point is itself a fairly broad range, it would be inclusive, but even that isn’t conclusive. “Between the ages of 30 and 40” has a whole year at each end point. If you were 30 years and 6 months old, you’d be included. If you were 40 years and 6 months old, though, you’d need to check whether the rules / convention cut off the range at the moment you turn 40, or whether you have to be 41 to fall outside the range.

One way people get around this is to add “exclusive” or “inclusive” after the range.

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    Appreciate the encouragement to use clearer language.
    – mikabytes
    Commented Mar 30, 2022 at 17:43
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    Yes, inclusion and exclusion. Not inclusiveness which refers to human behavior.
    – Lambie
    Commented Mar 30, 2022 at 20:48

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