Currency and how to read prices in German

Prices are a very familiar topic in everyday communication. Different countries have different currency units. Today's article will introduce currency, and how to ask and answer about prices in German.

Let's get started!!!

1. Currency in Germany

• In Germany there are 2 types: banknotes (Euro) and coins (Cent).

• Euro is symbolized as €.

• Euro banknotes come in the following denominations: 5€, 10€, 20€, 50€, 100€ and 500€.

• German coins come in the following denominations: 1 cent, 2 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, 20 cent, 50 cent, 1€, and 2€, where 1€ equals 100 cent.

2. How to ask and answer about prices in German

When you want to ask and answer about prices in German, you can use the following sentence patterns:

• Was kosten/kostet....?

• Wie viel kosten/kostet....?

→ Es/das/...…kosten/kostet.....

• Was machen/macht....?

• Wie viel machen/macht....?

→ Es/das/…machen/macht.....

• Wie teuer sind/ist….?

→ Es/das/…sind/ist…....

Was kostet diese Hose? (How much does this pair of trousers cost?)

→ Sie kostet 5€. (It costs 5 Euro.)

3. How to read prices in German

a. The short form

• We only read the Euro part, then pause for one beat and read the Cent part.

1.20€ – eins zwanzig

5.70€ – fünf siebzig

***Note: This way of reading is usually used when the cent part is a two-digit number.

b. The full form

• We read the Euro unit in full, and if desired, we can also read the Cent unit.

3.17€ – drei Euro siebzehn (Cent)

7€ – sieben Euro

23.63€ – dreiundzwanzig Euro dreiundsechzig (Cent)

***Note: This way of reading can be used in all cases. In particular, there are some cases where it must be used:

• When the price is a round Euro amount: 8€ – acht Euro- When the cent amount is 10 or below: 50.04€ – fünfzig Euro und vier Cent

c. Slang pronunciation

• 0.30€ – 3 Groschen

• 10 Cent – ein Groschen

• 50€ – 'n Fuffi (slang, commonly used in Berlin)

• 100€ – 'n Hunni (slang, commonly used in Berlin)

• 3000€ – drei Riesen (slang)

• 1,000,000€ – eine Mille (slang)