0

In my native language, we use a colon and a hyphen after a price to show that there are no decimals involved, so, we write for instance €10:- to show that the price is ten euros exactly; not, say, ten euros and five cents.

Now I'm wondering if you have something similar in English, and if so, if there's a difference between BrE and AmE.

Edit: I have now found some weak support for a long dash: $10— Is there anyone who can corroborate this use?

Also, if you use .00, how do you use this with non-specified sums of money? Like, I would write €xx:- to indicate that a price will always be without decimals. Would you write €xx.00 then?

(Also, if someone can think of further tags for this question, I'd be very grateful if you could just add them :) )

Thank you!

6
  • 2
    £10.00 is the standard way. Your version reminds me of British pre-decimal coinage, when one shilling and sixpence was written 1/6 and one shilling 1/-. Sep 24, 2021 at 13:06
  • 1
    I work in a legal/finance environment, and we always write (or type) amounts of money in full e.g. £10.00, or £0.45. I would see £10 or 45p as sloppy Sep 24, 2021 at 13:10
  • @KateBunting Thank you! Please see addition to my initial question!
    – Helen
    Sep 24, 2021 at 13:22
  • @MichaelHarvey Yes, of course – that's exactly why we use the colon+hyphen: because just writing €10 would be sloppy and inexact :) Also: Please see addition to my initial question!
    – Helen
    Sep 24, 2021 at 13:23
  • Can you give an example sentence for using €xx:- ? I would describe 'always without decimals' as 'a round number'. Sep 24, 2021 at 15:07

1 Answer 1

3

American English.

I would say something costs "ten dollars" which implies "ten dollars and no cents." But it's possible that I'm rounding; in casual speech, and especially when comparing two items at different price points, I might say that a product with a price of $9.88 costs "ten dollars." So to make it clear that the price is really $10.00 I can say "ten dollars even" or "ten dollars flat," emphasizing the fact that there is nothing in the price besides the ten dollars.

When writing the price using Arabic numerals I can use just $10 which (again) implies the absence of any additional cents, or I can explicitly write out the zeros by using $10.00.

Regarding your edit: Using a long dash to indicate "and no cents" ($10— or $10.—) is old-fashioned usage that I have seen more often in the context of handwriting, it being faster to draw a single horizontal line than to mark a zero and another zero. In the era of computers and keyboards I would call that practice obsolete.

I do not think there is standard marking to indicate "a set of prices which will always be an integer number of dollars." You would just have to say it in longform as I did there.

5
  • This is not just American English. It applies to any English. £10 OR £10.5 etc.
    – Lambie
    Sep 24, 2021 at 13:09
  • Thank you! Please see edit to my initial question as well :)
    – Helen
    Sep 24, 2021 at 13:21
  • 1
    I have seen the amount in words on cheques written "Ten pounds and 0/00", mainly from non-native UK senders where locals tend to write 'Ten pounds and no pence", 'Ten pounds only', or 'Ten pounds--------', the line extending to the edge of the space on the cheque, filling it up. I have even seen '£10 + 0/00" in the part for the amount in figures. Sep 24, 2021 at 13:38
  • 1
    @Michael in the US I was taught to write "Ten dollars and no/100--------" (or if there are cents, "ten dollars and eighty-one/100--------"). On the rare occasions when I write a check at all.
    – randomhead
    Sep 24, 2021 at 13:51
  • 1
    To send a cheque for £9.99 I would write "£9.99" in the amount in figures and "Nine pounds and ninety-nine pence" in words. Sep 24, 2021 at 13:58

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .