Look at the way the sentence is written. In written form, the tenths will be the second number and occurs after the word "and." For example, if the sentence is "the measurement of the water level read nine and four-tenths," focus on "four-tenths" because it is after the "and" in the sentence.
Write the first number that appears in the sentence. In the example, that would be "nine." Therefore, write "9."
Covert the written tenths to a decimal. A period always follows the whole number. Then you will simply write out the number that was after the "and" in the sentence. Using the example, add "0.4" to the "9" that is already on your paper. Your paper should read "9.4."
Understand what each number in a fractional equation represents. Using the same example, it is written as 9 4/10. The "9" is the whole number. The "4" in the numerator represents the number of tenths or the fractional piece of the whole. The "10" in the denominator represents the "10" equal parts that make up a whole.
Leave the whole number alone. You don't need to do anything to the whole number because it is not a fraction. In the example, the number "9" remains.
Place a period after the "9" followed by the number in the numerator of the fraction. The denominator falls away in decimal form. Using the example, it is written as 9.4.