def is_negative(number):
    """Checks if number is negative, returns the absolute value and a string
    describing its sign.
    Arguments:
        number {float or int} -- a negative or positive number.
    Returns:
        number -- the absolute value of the number
        negative -- the string 'minus ' if number < 0 else an empty string.
    """

    if number < 0:
        number = abs(number)
        negative = 'minus '
    else:
        negative = ''

    return number, negative