# € / euro / euros / Euro / Euros?



## Juhiza

My husband came up with a posting from someone on a board saying that the plural of Euro is Euro and not Euros. We explained that the plural of Euro is Euros, however he pointed out that the bank notes say 10 Euro. Our reasoning went along the lines that this is because it is a "10 Euro Note", not 10 euros, in the same way that you can have ten one-Euro coins, but the total would come to ten Euros. The question is, what do you call it grammatically when a noun is used as an adjective and therefore it does not take the plural "s" in the English language?

<Moderator note: Threads by Overton and yto on euro vs. euros has been added to this existing thread.>


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## Dale Dolores

Hi, Juhiza!  I found these websites to be a bit helpful about the plural form of the Euro.  You can google "plural form of EURO" and get a bunch of hits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Euro  (huge discussion)
http://europa.eu.int/comm/economy_finance/euro/faqs/faqs_13_en.htm
http://www.evertype.com/standards/euro/chicago.html

However, I am not sure of the grammatical term you are asking for.


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## jhnmcoia

I have always understood that the choice of the word 'Euro' for the european monetary unit was largely based on the fact that it was easily accepted into most European languages. In addition the plural of the word was estalished as 'Euro' and NOT 'Euros' because many languages change a word when it becomes plural e.g. in Italian it would become 'Euri'.
Can someone explain why this rule is not adhered to in  English or is the English language exempt?


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## Le Pamplemousse

My guess is that English just used the general 's' because it's the most common.  English usually isn't big on following the rules of other languages.


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## buddingtranslator

In spanish too it's "euros", and in French but the "s" is silent. The name was chosen because each country in EU calls the continent "Europe" or something similar therefore it was thought that "Euro" would be universally understood.


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## panjandrum

Previous thread on this topic:


HERE including links to official sources.


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## Hakro

jhnmcoia said:
			
		

> I have always understood that the choice of the word 'Euro' for the european monetary unit was largely based on the fact that it was easily accepted into most European languages.


Unfortunately the pronunciation of 'Euro' is very much different in the main European languages, English, French and German. A foreigner who has never studied the pronunciation of these languages has very little possibilies to understand the word Euro. In my opinion, the first proposal, 'Ecu', would have been better but it was taken for another purpose.


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## maxiogee

Even in the days when Ireland used Pounds people would refer to something as costing "20 Pound".

This is probably heresy  on a site such as this, but I'm always prepared to ask the hard questions - Does it matter what the plural is? If someone from another country tells me that the price of a meal is 32 Euro, or 32 Euros, or 32 Euri, or even 32 Euroqwertyuiop - I'm going to know how much to give them.


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## Brioche

Hakro said:
			
		

> Unfortunately the pronunciation of 'Euro' is very much different in the main European languages, English, French and German. A foreigner who has never studied the pronunciation of these languages has very little possibilies to understand the word Euro.


 
Try the Greek: ευρώ (pronounced _evró_), stressed on the end.

Doesn't sound vaguely like the English, French or German pronunciation.

And the Greeks don't use cent.  They say λεπτό, plural λεπτά_ (leptó,_ plural _leptá_), just the same as when they had the drachma.


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## jhnmcoia

Whilst I have to accept the reality that common usage will out no matter what and that in most instances people will understand what is intended even if the word is misspronounced, it remains important to know what is the accepted correct usage. I find it most irritating to have to bear the ever more lax English employed by those who should know better such as the television news broadcatsers of the BBC and SKY let alone the appalling standards of the English version of Euronews.


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## Outsider

panjandrum said:
			
		

> Previous threads on this topic:
> 
> HERE including links to official sources.


From there:


> Because the s-less plurals had become "enshrined" in EU legislation, the Commission decided to retain those plurals in legislation, but the European Commission Translation Service strongly recommends that in all material generated by the Commission intended for the general public, "the natural plurals" of each language be used.


I'm glad. Dollar has a plural, pound has a plural... why shouldn't euro have a plural?


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## virr2

Hello everyone!

Which sentence is correct?

400 EURO or
400 euros?

Many thanks.


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## Donnie

virr2 said:
			
		

> Hello everyone!
> 
> Which sentence is correct?
> 
> 400 EURO or
> 400 euros?
> 
> Many thanks.


 
The second one.


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## panjandrum

Neither, or possibly both.

The singular is Euro, the plural is Euro, except where it is Euros.

Source:

Euro

To save a lot of bother, here are some extracts:
Official practice followed in English language EU legislation is to use the words _euro_ and _cent_ as both singular and plural.

Because the _s_-less plurals had become "enshrined" in EU legislation, the Commission decided to retain those plurals in legislation, but the European Commission Translation Service strongly recommends that in all material generated by the Commission intended for the general public, "the natural plurals" of each language be used. 

In Ireland, however, the Irish Ministry for Finance decided to use the word _euro_ as both the singular and plural forms of the currency, and because Irish broadcasters took their cue from the Ministry for Finance, the "legislative plurals" tend to also be used on the news and in much Irish advertising.


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## virr2

Panjandrum, I am your fan  .
Thank You a lot!


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## panjandrum

The logical answer is euros, as Donnie said, but as you can see, the Irish (for one) have managed to make it rather less obvious.


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## maxiogee

panjandrum said:
			
		

> The logical answer is euros, as Donnie said, but as you can see, the Irish (for one) have managed to make it rather less obvious.



And we don't pluralise the fiddley bits either!
Tha bit of information will cost you Twenty €uro and seventy-five cent.


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## cirrus

Why is that? When you had punts did not people use the plural eg £20.50 would be twenty pounds fifty (pence).  I could understand talking about a 10 euro, 5 euro note but when it comes to a price eg €17.50 I'd use the plural and say 17 euros fifty cents.


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## maxiogee

The concept was introduced from the start. I don't remember it being any sort of official announcement, but it might have been. People just floundered around at first, still saying punts when they meant Euro and vice versa (there was a short change-over period where both currencies were acceptable. Shops could take in both but could only give change in Euro and cent. I was working in a video rental store then and the cash control was chaotic. But it settled down a lot faster than the "authorities" had expected or allowed for. The bulk of the "old money" was cashed in very quickly.


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## heidita

maxiogee said:
			
		

> And we don't pluralise the fiddley bits either!
> Tha bit of information will cost you Twenty €uro and seventy-five cent.


This has cost me quite some research:

fiddley-did: quid

Are 75 cent(s) a pound?


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## heidita

cirrus said:
			
		

> Why is that? When you had punts did not people use the plural eg £20.50 would be twenty pounds fifty (pence). I could understand talking about a 10 euro, 5 euro note but when it comes to a price eg €17.50 I'd use the plural and say 17 euros fifty cents.


 
You did? Very strange for me as we were always taught that pound was used in singular, whatever the situation.


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## cirrus

heidita said:
			
		

> You did? Very strange for me as we were always taught that pound was used in singular, whatever the situation.



I don't think it is that hard and fast.  How much did it cost?  Ten pounds.
If I say ten pound it sounds like something a non native speaker or someone being very casual would say.

I think you are right when we add pence we drop the S.  

Sorry I think my brain has got too hot to think straight!


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## heidita

cirrus said:
			
		

> I don't think it is that hard and fast. How much did it cost? Ten pounds.
> If I say ten pound it sounds like something a non native speaker or someone being very casual would say.
> 
> I think you are right when we add pence we drop the S.
> 
> Sorry I think my brain has got too hot to think straight!


 
Don't talk about heat, we are at 45ºC over here!

Well, I would have said : ten pound. Do you mean, _casua_l as in not paying attention to standard language?


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## maxiogee

heidita said:
			
		

> fiddley-did: quid (I have never heard anyone use that expression)
> 
> Are 75 cent(s) a pound?



No.
I think Ireland was the only country in the Euro-zone which had a higher than 1:1 exchange rate for the euro.

IR£1.00 = €1.27

We still hang onto our slang "quid" - X euro is referred to as X quid.


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## heidita

maxiogee said:
			
		

> No.
> I think Ireland was the only country in the Euro-zone which had a higher than 1:1 exchange rate for the euro.
> 
> IR£1.00 = €1.27
> 
> We still hang onto our slang "quid" - X euro is referred to as X quid.


 
Then why did you say _fiddley bits_? Why bits?


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## french4beth

maxiogee said:
			
		

> And we don't pluralise the fiddley bits either!
> Tha bit of information will cost you Twenty €uro and seventy-five *cent*.


Is this where the American rapper "Fitty Cent" came up with his moniker?  

Sorry to be such a 'wally', Tony!


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## cirrus

heidita said:
			
		

> Well, I would have said : ten pound. Do you mean, _casua_l as in not paying attention to standard language?



Just that.  It might be dialect or someone trying to sound cooler than they are.

As for the heat at least you have persianas.  UK buildings are designed to keep heat in. All those carpets, loads of insulation and public transport designed for the cold eurgh!


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## cirrus

heidita said:
			
		

> Then why did you say _fiddley bits_? Why bits?



Because you have to fiddle with them to get them out of your wallet.


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## maxiogee

heidita said:
			
		

> Then why did you say fiddley bits? Why bits?
> 
> 
> 
> cirrus said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Because you have to fiddle with them to get them out of your wallet.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Indeed. Have you seen how small the 1 cent coin is?
> Fiddley = awkward
> bits = pieces
Click to expand...


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## heidita

heidita said:
			
		

> This has cost me quite some research:
> 
> *fiddley-did: quid*
> 
> Are 75 cent(s) a pound?


I found it here:

http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/anonymous@D871250308/-/p/dict/slang-f.html?

So apparently you didn't mean the pound after all!


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## maxiogee

heidita said:
			
		

> I found it here:
> 
> http://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/anonymous@D871250308/-/p/dict/slang-f.html?
> 
> So apparently you didn't mean the pound after all!



ME? It was you who used the expression. (and I would point out that the site you point us towards is an _Australian_ one. I have never even seen an Australian 'quid'!)


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## A90Six

heidita said:
			
		

> You did? Very strange for me as we were always taught that pound was used in singular, whatever the situation.


As I see it:

I have never thought about this before, but I think the use of pound as a plural is colloquial and/or dialectal. It is often heard, and pound and pounds, it seems, are interchangeable even when referring to weight.

My baby was eight-pound(s) six-ounces at birth.
Twenty-two pound(s), twenty-eight pence.
I paid fifty pound(s) for these shoes.
This shirt should have been twenty pound(s), but I got five pound(s) off.
When *and* is used in the amount I think that *pounds* is almost always used:

Twenty-two pounds and twenty-eight pence.

*Pound*, pl. *pounds* or *pound*.

*Pence*, pl. *pence*, although *one pence* is still called *a penny*.

*Eight pounds and one pence* or *eight pound and a penny*.
*Ounce*, pl. *ounces*.
*Quid*, (col.) pl. *quid*.

​


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## cirrus

A90Six said:
			
		

> As I see it:
> 
> I have never thought about this before, but I think the use of pound as a plural is colloquial and/or dialectal. It is often heard, and pound and pounds, it seems, are interchangeable even when referring to weight.



I disagree.  I think what we are looking at is a word which we use irregularly.  Think about criticism of politicians - they waste thousands of pounds on policies which constanstly chop and change.  If you win the lottery the jackpots is potentially several million pounds. 

I suspect it's because we don't often see it written down that there is confusion.  I think the s is often dropped because it is awkward to say.

The quotes below are the result of google search for pounds lottery jackpot

"To date there have been 1006 National Lottery draws with a total prize fund of more than 25.1 billion pounds, creating 1700 millionares in the process. The National Lottery Fund has also donated more than 17 Billion pounds to 190,000 good causes.

Since the lottery's launch in 1994, lottery players have raised 16 billion pounds for good causes, funding more than 180,000 projects across the U.K. Over the course of the lottery's 10-year history, U.K. National Lottery players have won in excess of 23 billion pounds in prizes, and more than 1,700 millionaires have been created.


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## Overton

Hi,
I never know which is the right way to write:
1) 1000 euro
2) 1000 euros
3) 1000 Euro
4) 1000 Euros
5) € 1000
6) 1000 €
Thanks for your help!!


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## 1234plet

€ 1000 is correct. 
And 1000 Euros


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## Hakro

This varies from country to country. I have read that there's an EU directive that euro shouldn't have plural form but in most languages they use it anyway. In German Euro is written with capital letter. Also € before or after the number varies from country to country. 
In Finnish we write: 1000 euroa, 1000 €.


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## 1234plet

Yes, I also think it variates. 
It's just to me that what I wrote before seemed most correct - but I am sure that the other ways can be just as correct!


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## maxiogee

In Ireland we 
write the symbol first and then the amount, use commas as separators for multiples of thousands and a full stop as separator between euro and cent —> €1,234,567.89 
and we 
speak the number of euro and then the words 'euro and' and then the number of cent and then the word 'cent' —> One million, two hundred and thirty-four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven Euro and eighty-nine cent.


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## Hakro

maxiogee said:


> In Ireland we
> write the symbol first and then the amount, use commas as separators for multiples of thousands and a full stop as separator between euro and cent —> €1,234,567.89
> and we
> speak the number of euro and then the words 'euro and' and then the number of cent and then the word 'cent' —> One million, two hundred and thirty-four thousand, five hundred and sixty-seven Euro and eighty-nine cent.


Do you write euro or Euro? Or both?


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## maxiogee

Hakro said:


> Do you write euro or Euro? Or both?



I write it with lower case usually, but have seen and occasionally used a capital.


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## geve

Hakro said:


> This varies from country to country. I have read that there's an EU directive that euro shouldn't have plural form but in most languages they use it anyway. In German Euro is written with capital letter. Also € before or after the number varies from country to country.
> In Finnish we write: 1000 euroa, 1000 €.


It varies from country to country indeed. There was a thread on euro(s) in the French forum (here) and this link was posted: apparently "euro" and "cent" take the mark of plural only in Spanish, French, Portuguese and Finnish.


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## Porteño

In a previous thread on this subject one _forero_ posted a website which gave the European Central Bank's directive about the plural of 'euro'. In the foreword, the president of that entity specifically referred to the fact that the plural of 'euro' was 'euro' and acknowledged that this broke the normal rules for plurals in English. However, and what else could one expect from these EU bureaucrats, there follows a listing of the name to be used by each country. In many cases, the plural is 'euros' but in others not. If anyone can make sense of that I'm a Dutchman (No offense to the Ducth, just a BE expression). As to the plural of 'cent' being 'cent' seems to me to be the acme of idiocy.


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## geve

I've fixed the link in my previous post. For the record I should add that the Europa website (portal site of the European Union) also says this:


> The spelling of the words euro and cent in the plural and singular, as used in official documents such as EU legislation, are set out in the following table.
> 
> However, more general usage of these terms may differ in some languages, such as English, where it is natural practice to refer to the currency in the plural form as ‘euros’ instead of the official form ‘euro’. This is the same practice as used with most currencies in English, as in the plural form ‘dollars’.


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## gwrthgymdeithasol

Overton said:


> Hi,
> I never know which is the right way to write:
> 1) 1000 euro
> 2) 1000 euros
> 3) 1000 Euro
> 4) 1000 Euros
> 5) € 1000
> 6) 1000 €
> Thanks for your help!!



In the UK we don't usually have to write or even talk about euros, because we still have our own currency (and financial soul), dear old Pounds Sterling. Bit of politics there; till it gets deleted by Brussels :-D


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## roxcyn

I would use:

1000 Euros/euros 
€ 1000

But I have seen it as: 1000 €, for example in some places in Spain they will write the € at the end.  

Then there is 1000 EUR, the international abbreviation (www.xe.com).  

I think any of the above are okay.  It really depends on your purpose.  If you were writing an finance article or communicating with someone that doesn't use euros you may use 1000 EUR.


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## Outsider

> The spelling of the words euro and cent in the plural and singular, as used in official documents such as EU legislation, are set out in the following table.
> 
> However, more general usage of these terms may differ in some languages, such as English, where it is natural practice to refer to the currency in the plural form as ‘euros’ instead of the official form ‘euro’. This is the same practice as used with most currencies in English, as in the plural form ‘dollars’.


That is truly idiotic! "Some languages"? Try most!

And the table has "cent/cents" for Portuguese, but no one says that. Everyone says "cêntimo/cêntimos".

Of course, the best solution is to do as Roxcyn says, and use the symbol of the currency, instead of writing the name in full.


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## Hakro

roxcyn said:


> I would use:
> 
> 1000 Euros/euros
> € 1000
> 
> But I have seen it as: 1000 €, for example in some places in Spain they will write the € at the end.


I would use "1000 €" because it's more logical. We read it "one thousand euros", not "euros one thousand". How do you read it?


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## cirrus

I suspect the position of € sign depends on where people used to put their currency sign before the euro.  Prices in pounds and punts are like US dollars we put the £ sign before the amount, whereas in Spain for example prices in pesetas would be marked up 1,500 ptas.  Regardless of central bank guidance, it will be interesting to see whether the position becomes uniform over time.


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## panjandrum

Please note that this particular forum is for discussion of language and usage, not the financial politics surrounding the euro.  As a result, several posts that are moving from the former into the latter have been deleted from this thread.


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## yto

Good evening

why do english people sometimes talk about '500 euros and sometimes about 500 euro'?

Thanks


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## la reine victoria

yto said:


> Good evening
> 
> wWhy do eEnglish people sometimes talk about '500 euros and sometimes about 500 euro'?
> 
> Thanks


 



Good evening yto.

500 euros is used as a noun.  500 euro is an adjective, as in "I only have a 500 euro note."

Please remember that the UK doesn't have the euro as its currency, so it is only spoken about when going on holiday in the euro-zone, or in financial terms by stock brokers.

Some lazy people might say "500 euro" instead of "500 euros".  




LRV


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## Alxmrphi

It's common for foreigners to say "500 euro" as a price, weirdly common actually.


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## invictaspirit

In most langauges it is not pluralised.

Notice the Irish often talk of 500 Euro, not 500 Euros.  In countries where it is used, this seems to be the convention.


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## jazyk

I've heard euros in Portuguese and Spanish, which is in accordance with the rules for pluralizing nouns in these two languages.


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## invictaspirit

jazyk said:


> I've heard euros in Portuguese and Spanish, which is in accordance with the rules for pluralizing nouns in these two languages.


 
Yes, that's true.  It's not a totally universal convention.  The Germans and Italians do the opposite: 1 euro, 2 euro.  I'll have to sit down and think about the others.   I can't remember. 

I'm not really sure if the Irish have a hard and fast rule about it...but I have noticed a lot of them not pluralising.


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## cerci

If you think about it, we often also do the same thing with pounds, although it would sound weird with dollars.

Eg.
- How much is that coat? - 70 pound ...sounds okay.
- How much is that coat? - 70 dollar ...sounds bad.


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## gaer

invictaspirit said:


> In most langauges it is not pluralised.
> 
> Notice the Irish often talk of 500 Euro, not 500 Euros. In countries where it is used, this seems to be the convention.


Since "the euro" has replaced older forms of currency, it often follows the same rule as the term replaced:

German. 1 Mark, 100 Mark

SO:

1 Euro, 100 Euro

But in the US:

1 dollar, 100 dollars

SO:

1 euro, 100 euros

I have no idea what rules are used in other languages.

Gaer


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## TriglavNationalPark

panjandrum said:


> If you walk the streets of Dublin you will find that euro, plural, is common, as is cent, plural.
> See ... / euro / euros / Euro / Euros?


 
Even though Ireland is an English-speaking country that uses the euro, its preferences may not be typical of all English-speaking countries. For instance, note that someone in the thread you linked to stated that the Irish once commonly used "pound" as a pural of "pound." The euro is the world's most significant currency after the U.S. dollar, which means that even many people who live outside the Eurozone still deal with euros and cents on a daily basis.


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## Hermocrates

invictaspirit said:


> In most langauges it is not pluralised.



Italian being one of them. In Italian the official plural is "euro", not "euri" (as a masculine plural should be).


Rye


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## TriglavNationalPark

ryenart said:


> Italian being one of them. In Italian the official plural is "euro", not "euri" (as a masculine plural should be).
> 
> 
> Rye


 
On the other hand, all Slavic languages, for instance, do pluralize euro, so I would dispute the notion that most European languages don't pluralize it.


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## Pedro y La Torre

gaer said:


> SO:
> 
> 1 euro, 100 euros
> 
> I have no idea what rules are used in other languages.



In Ireland, the only English-speaking country to use the Euro, one invariably says (and writes) "1 euro, 2 euro" etc.
Cent is also not pluralized, "1 cent, 50 cent" etc.


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## TriglavNationalPark

Pedro y La Torre said:


> In Ireland, the only English-speaking country to use the Euro, one invariably says (and writes) "1 euro, 2 euro" etc.
> Cent is also not pluralized, "1 cent, 50 cent" etc.


 
While Ireland and Malta are indeed the only English-speaking countries where the euro is the official currency, millions of English speakers deal with the euro on a daily basis. In my experience, most of these speakers, along with most English-language media organizations, pluralize both "euro" and "cent" (example, example, example, example).


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## Sepia

I don't really understand the confusion here. In some languages it you use plurals of currency names, in some you don't. That is obviously why it was deciced that the EU-organs don't use a plural of Euro and Cent in any of the languages they use. Whether some think this is idiotic or not it would be more idiotic not to settle for a standard.

That doesn't in any way say that it is wrong to say Euros and Cents when one is speaking English or euros and centimos when one is speaking Spanish. 

Obviouly both ways are correct, in their respective contexts.


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## Porteño

Sepia said:


> That is obviously why it was deciced that the EU-organs don't use a plural of Euro and Cent in any of the languages they use.


 
I think you are wrong there. If you look at the guidelines that I mentioned in a post a long time ago, you will find that in some countries/languages, the pluralisation was the official form, but curiously enough not for English where it would have been more obvious. Indeed, the perpetrator of that dastardly document even went as far as to say that he was well aware of the fact that the rule contradicted normal English spelling! And you ask if it is idiotic?


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## TriglavNationalPark

Porteño said:


> I think you are wrong there. If you look at the guidelines that I mentioned in a post a long time ago, you will find that in some countries/languages, the pluralisation was the official form


 
You're right. In many EU languages (including my native tongue), both "euro" and "cent" are _always_ pluralized, even in official contexts.


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## Porteño

So where is the sense in it all? There doesn't seem to be any other than a particular Dutchman's (I believe that was the nationailty of the author) personal dislike of the English language!


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## TriglavNationalPark

Porteño said:


> So where is the sense in it all? There doesn't seem to be any other than a particular Dutchman's (I believe that was the nationailty of the author) personal dislike of the English language!


 
Perhaps, but I would argue that the EU's official preferences don't matter all that much -- particularly for English, which doesn't have an official regulating body. If most people and media organizations pluralize "euro" and "cent", that's what counts.


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## Pedro y La Torre

TriglavNationalPark said:


> Perhaps, but I would argue that the EU's official preferences don't matter all that much -- particularly for English, which doesn't have an official regulating body. If most people and media organizations pluralize "euro" and "cent", that's what counts.



Some do, some don't. Either form is correct.


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## manicha

Hi, 
How do you say it in English, 4.5 million euro or 4.5 million euros? I've serched both on the internet and the number of results is quite similar. Are both valid?
Thanks.


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## JustKate

I speak American English, so it would probably be better to hear from someone in Europe before making a final decision, but I know I've heard "euros" often, and that's also the plural favored by to _The Associated Press Stylebook_ and _The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary_.


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## stormwreath

Yes, both are valid.

The official EU definition of the euro says that the name is unchanged in the singular and plural: one euro, twenty euro. However, the plural euros is in widespread use in Britain - the Guardian and Telegraph newspaper style guides prefer it, for example.

British English uses both plural and unmodified terms for other currencies as well: you'll hear one person talk about "three pounds fifty" while another says "three pound fifty". To my ears the plural sounds more formally correct while the unmodified sounds more colloquial, but I can't say if that's the general rule.


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## Egmont

I suspect that the official EU definition was written to avoid the problem of different plurals in different languages. I'd still use "euros" in English. It sounds better. (For some reason, though, "a million yen" sounds better to me than "a million yens." I don't know why. None of the other currencies I sounded out mentally sounded better in its singular form.)


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## Myridon

For those that use the plural form, I would expect to see singular in the adjective form and plural in the noun form, as in:
The 4.5 million euro mansion is worth 4.5 million euros.


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## pickarooney

A lot of the Asian currencies (yen, yuan, baht, dong...) don't seem to pluralise in English. Same with rand and maybe the various kroner.


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## natkretep

​Mod note: I have merged the thread started by manicha (post 69) with an earlier thread on the same question. Please read the earlier comments.


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## Keith Bradford

I can't imagine why people think euro is important enough to take a capital letter; other currencies don't.

Here in France the same problem exists, but I'm able to correct people with all the authority of the Banque de France behind me. It's just an ordinary common noun that obeys the general rule: singular = *euro*; plural = *euros*.


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## panjandrum

Repeating what I believe I said earlier ...
English-speakers who do not live in a euro country tend to pluralise to euros and cents.
 English-speakers who do live in a euro country don't.
Previous thread on this topic:
HERE including links to official sources which are quite categorical, in some cases, that the plurals are euro and cent.



> Because the _s_-less plurals had become "enshrined" in EU  legislation, the Commission decided to retain those plurals in  legislation, but the European Commission Translation Service strongly  recommends that in all material generated by the Commission intended for  the general public, "the natural plurals" of each language be used.
> 
> In Ireland, however, the Irish Ministry for Finance decided to use the word _euro_ as both the singular and plural  forms of the currency, and because Irish broadcasters took their cue  from the Ministry for Finance, the "legislative plurals" tend to also be  used on the news and in much Irish advertising.



I was in Limerick a week ago.
In Limerick shops, restaurants and markets, the plurals are euro and cent.


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## Keith Bradford

panjandrum said:


> ...
> English-speakers who do not live in a euro country tend to pluralise to euros and cents.
> English-speakers who *do live in a euro country don't*.
> ...



Wrong. Read my previous. I seem to think my English-speaking friends do the same. Ireland is perhaps the exception? It wouldn't be the first time...


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## JulianStuart

Just for completeness, "The National Council for the Maltese Language" decided that the currency will be known as the ewro (i.e. they rejected euro) both in singular and plural .  (Link to pdf) The little guys are centezmu and centezmi ( I did not attempt to add the diacritical marks and omitted them!) so the plural _is_ different for the "cents"!


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## panjandrum

Keith Bradford said:


> Wrong. Read my previous. I seem to think my English-speaking friends do the same. Ireland is perhaps the exception? It wouldn't be the first time...


I should, perhaps, have been more specific.

The sense behind my point is that Ireland quite specifically uses euro and cent as the plural form, but that even there, native English speakers from non-euro countries use euros and cents.

I didn't intend to generalise to native English speakers living in non-English-speaking euro-using countries 
I would be amazed if they didn't use the natural English plurals - euros and cents.


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## Azimat

I don't know if this can help, but in Italian we use "euro" for both singular  and plural, while for "dollar" we do have the singular form "dollaro"  and the plural form "dollari". Now, if I try to use the plural form of "euro" in Italian, which would be "euri", it would would seem very odd. No one would say "Euri" in Italian for the plural; we would only say "1 euro, 2 euro, 10 euro, etc."

Edit, there is an interesting explanation from wikipedia:

The formal titles of the currency are euro for the major unit and cent  for the minor (one hundredth) unit and for official use in most  eurozone languages; according to the ECB, all languages should use the  same spelling for the nominative singular. This may contradict normal rules for word formation in some languages; e.g., those where there is no eu diphthong. Bulgaria has negotiated an exception; euro in the Cyrillic alphabet is spelled as eвро (evro) and not eуро (euro) in all official documents. Official practice for English-language EU legislation is to use the words euro and cent as both singular and plural, although the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation states that the plural forms euros and cents should be used in English. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro#Linguistic_issues


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## Hakro

panjandrum said:


> The sense behind my point is that Ireland quite specifically uses euro and cent as the plural form, but that even there, native English speakers from non-euro countries use euros and cents.
> 
> I didn't intend to generalise to native English speakers living in non-English-speaking euro-using countries
> I would be amazed if they didn't use the natural English plurals - euros and cents.


Please see my post #36. The Irish are right, others are wrong.


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## George French

Keith Bradford said:


> Here in France the same problem exists, but I'm able to correct people with all the authority of the Banque de France behind me. It's just an ordinary common noun that obeys the general rule: singular = *euro*; plural = *euros*.



Except on French banknotes, at least, the EURO (singular) is capitalized.

And at least one official governmental French document http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/dglf/cogeter/2-12-97-euro.htm states, in French of course, that the s is added to cents and euros... "take the mark of plurals for common nouns", or "add an s on the end". "My" link also states that little letters, not big letters, are used for the first letter of euros and cents.

GF..

Live the difference...


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## JulianStuart

From the EC's document on "How to use the euro name and symbol" although it's not clear if it has been amended recently! (My emphasis and colours)





> *The euro 'rules'* *
> 
> The Heads of State and Government meeting in Madrid in 1995 chose the  name ‘*euro*’ as it symbolises ‘Europe’. There are certain rules on the  use of the term 'euro':
> 
> 
> 
> The name of the single  currency must be the same in all the official languages of the EU,  taking into account the different alphabets. This is to ensure  consistency and to avoid confusion in the single market.
> *In all EU legal texts*, the  nominative singular spelling must be 'euro' in all languages ('ευρώ' in  Greek alphabet; 'евро' in Cyrillic alphabet). *Plural forms and  declensions are accepted* as long as they do not change the 'eur-' root.
> In *documents other than EU  legal texts,* including national legislation, other spellings are  accepted according to the various grammatical rules used in each  language.
> The definition of the name  ‘cent’ (in Greek, 'λεπτό'; in Bulgarian ' цент') does not prevent the  use of variants of this term in common usage in the Member States.




*Not to be confused with grafitti such as "Chelsea rules, OK"


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## funnyhat

Hakro said:


> Please see my post #36. The Irish are right, others are wrong.



There doesn't have to be one right answer here.  "Euro" may be an accepted plural form in Irish English, but doesn't have to be in other English dialects.  In American English the plural form is always "euros."  Variety is the spice of life!


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## JulianStuart

funnyhat said:


> There doesn't have to be one right answer here.  "Euro" may be an accepted plural form in Irish English, but doesn't have to be in other English dialects.  In American English the plural form is always "euros."  Variety is the spice of life!


The EU directive I quoted from shows that Hakro may have "misinterpreted" the context in the directive he mentions in post #36, where he thought the word euro is only ever allowed to be singular.  Plural forms and declensions are overtly allowed, as long as eur- is the invariant root thereof.


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## hopefultoo

Actually, the newsreaders on France 24 are pretty good by comparison.


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## hopefultoo

I don't think there is any intrinsic reason why nouns cannot be used in the plural as adjectives in English. I don't think plurality is the issue at all.  When we say _beef burgers_, for example, the adjective is a singular because it is being used to describe an abstract quality (an English likes abstractions), and not a countable concrete quality.  When an abstract quality can be conveyed by a plural noun, as in _magistrates court_ this is fine.  However, amusingly, the sign above Frinton Magistrates Court reads _Frinton Magistrates*'* Court.

_Clearly, there are few cases where a plural noun is used to describe an abstraction.  Though incorrect, the rule about 'no plural adjectives' is a good rule of thumb.


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## london calling

panjandrum said:


> I would be amazed if they didn't use the natural English plurals - euros and cents.


I live in Italy, where euro is not pluralised, as someone mentioned earlier: when speaking English, however, I use the natural English plural, euros.


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## Pedro y La Torre

london calling said:


> I live in Italy, where euro is not pluralised, as someone mentioned earlier: when speaking English, however, I use the natural English plural, euros.



Is euro*s* more natural than rand_s_ or yen_s_ or (Turkish) lira_s_? I don't know; I prefer "euro" as a plural.
I certainly agree that ''20 cent'' sounds atrocious, but it seems to have taken hold in Ireland and will be hard to stamp out. 

I seem to associate "cent" with the euro currency and "cents" with the U.S. dollar; I've no idea whether other people in Ireland make this association though.


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## forsin

Hello,

which one is correct to write?

70 euros/ 70 euro ?

Thanks


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## spanishperiwinkle

70 euros. Same as you would say 70 pounds.


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## RM1(SS)

Says Wikipedia: 





> Official practice for English-language EU legislation is to use the words euro and cent as both singular and plural, although the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation states that the plural forms _euros_ and _cents_ should be used in English.


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## Pedro y La Torre

spanishperiwinkle said:


> 70 euros. Same as you would say 70 pounds.



Not in Ireland. I'd say ''70 euro''. 

I always pluralize cents, on the other hand, but many Irish people don't following the practice in legislation referred to by RM1(SS).
This sounds horrendous however and should be avoided if possible.


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## sound shift

I'd write "It cost 70 euros" but "It was a 70-euro ticket".


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## RM1(SS)

spanishperiwinkle said:


> Same as you would say 70 pounds.


I don't know about 70, but I think everyone I talked to in Scotland would have said "five pound."


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## natkretep

*Moderator note*
Forsin's thread (beginning at post 91) has been merged with earlier threads. Please read the earlier posts which contain pertinent comments and euro(s).


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