Learn English – How to say the total amount

moneynumbersspeech

I'm not sure if the saying of the total amount USD 23,428.32 is correct below (esp. the 'cent' part after the dot):

Say U.S. dollars twenty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-eight and thirty-two cents.

And if it is 23,428.00, do I say

Say U.S. dollars twenty-three thousand four hundred and twenty-eight only.

Best Answer

On a check – which is one of the few places where you see such numbers written out in their long form – you might see any of the following conventions used:

  • Twenty-three thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars & thirty-two cents
  • Twenty-three thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars and 32 cents
  • Twenty-three thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars and 32/100

I don't believe too many people would use the top one, though – not when they were writing out the number in longhand – although you might see the number of cents spelled out on a computer-printed check.

In the case where the dollar amount is even, you might see:

  • Twenty-three thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars and no cents
  • Twenty-three thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars and no/100
  • Twenty-three thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars & 0/100
  • Twenty-three thousand four hundred twenty-eight dollars only

I think the last one is relatively uncommon, although I've personally used it for decades. (I first saw it as a teenager, thought it was a cool, quirky way to write checks in even amounts, and so I adopted the practice.) Sometimes I'll even use the word exactly, when the dollar amount is more even:

  • Twenty-three thousand four hundred dollars exactly

although I don't usually write checks in that large an amount.

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