4.6 How to express prices

When we express prices in English, the currency itself will be in the plural if the number is greater than one e.g. "three euros and eighty cents", "two pounds fifty" etc.

 

In German prices however, the currency is always in the singular in prices regardless of the amount - drei Euro achtzig, zwei Pfund fünfzig. Similarly, although one euro consists of a hundred cents, the word "Cent" is only written in the singular in German prices - i.e. zwölf Euro (und) zehn Cent (= twelve euros and ten cents).

 

A tipNote that in written German, a comma is invariably used in prices wher we would put a decimal point in English. Thus € 3,99 (or 3,99 €) means "three euros and ninety-nine cents". In shops and supermarkets however, price tickets can either display a comma or a decimal point, as the price tags below display.

When a price ends in a round number of euros, as in the list of drinks prices on the board in the picture below, it is most commonly written as € 5,- etc. The reverse is also true. wheras English uses a comma to split up large numbers, German uses a decimal point. So "€ 2.635" means "two thousand six hundred and thirty-five euros" - not "two point six three five euros"!