Learn How to Conver and Write US$ Dollar (USD) Amounts, in Words, in English: How are the Dollars and Cents Numbers Written in Words
1. How to convert and write US$ dollar (USD) amounts, without decimals, in words, in English?
To write an integer number we must know the place value of each digit.
For example, the number 1,234,567 has a 1 in the millions place, a 2 in the hundred thousands, a 3 in the ten thousands place, a 4 in the thousands place, a 5 in the hundreds place, a 6 in the tens place, and a 7 in the ones place.
1,234,567 in words is:
= one millions (1,000,000) + two hundred thousands (200,000) + three ten thousands (30,000) + four thousands (4,000) + five hundreds (500) + six tens (60) + seven ones (7)
= one million + two hundred thousands + thirty thousand + four thousand + five hundred + sixty + seven
= one million + (two hundred + thirty + four) thousand + five hundred + sixty + seven
= one million + two hundred thirty-four thousand + five hundred + sixty-seven
= one million two hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty-seven.
So, US$1,234,567 dollars (USD) = one million two hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty-seven US dollars (USD).
Notes:
1: Note the hyphen (or the minus sign) in "thirty-four" and "sixty-seven" above. Technically, it's correct to hyphenate compound numbers between twenty-one, 21, and ninety-nine, 99.
2: Placement of word "and": in American English do not use the word "and" after "hundred", "thousand" or "million". So, it is "one million two hundred thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty-seven" and not "one million and two hundred thirty-four thousand and five hundred and sixty-seven", though you may hear a lot of people using the last form, informally. On the contrary, the "and" word is always used in British English.
2. The United States issues paper currency and coins to pay for purchases, taxes, and debts:
Paper Money. The seven denominations of US currency in production are: $1 one dollar, $2 two dollar, $5 five dollar, $10 ten dollar, $20 twenty dollar, $50 fifty dollar and $100 one hundred dollar notes.
Coins. The United States issues several denominations, with the most common being: 1¢ (one cent = 0.01 dollars), 5¢ (five cents = 0.05 dollars), 10¢ (ten cents = 0.1 dollars), 25¢ (twenty-five cents = 0.25 dollars), 50¢ (fifty cents = 0.5 dollars) and $1 (one dollar).
Rounding off: with the smallest denomination of US curency being 1¢ (1 cent = 0.01 dollars) it means that we cannot have currency amounts with more than two decimals. If calculations give you amounts of money that have more than two decimals, then you have to round those numbers off to two decimals. If the third decimal is 5 or more, then round it up, if it is 4 or less, then round it down. Ex: 2.432 ≈ 2.43; 12.595 ≈ 12.60; 25.4949 ≈ 25.49; 5.6051 ≈ 5.61; 5.666666 ≈ 5.67; 5.333333 ≈ 5.33.
How to read a decimal number that represents a US$ dollar (USD) amount: the number before the decimal mark (to the left) is the dollar amount and the number after the decimal mark (to the right) is the cent amount. Examples below.
US$429.75 dollar (USD) = four hundred twenty-nine dollars + seventy-five cents.
US$1,300.5 dollar (USD) = one thousand three hundred dollars + fifty cents.
US$0.01 dollar (USD) = one cent = a penny.
US$0.05 dollar (USD) = five cents = a nickel.
US$0.1 dollar (USD) = ten cents = a dime.
US$0.25 dollar (USD) = twenty-five cents = a quarter.
US$0.5 dollar (USD) = fifty cents = half dollar (not so common a coin).
3. How to convert a dollar amount, with decimals, US$ dollars and cents, and write it in words, in US American English?
To write a decimal number in words we must know the place value of each digit, before and after the decimal mark.
This task is almost the same as the one converting an integer, but we also need to worry about the place values after the decimal mark (to the right of it).
Let's take an example: the decimal number 987.146. Notice the three decimals. Let's write it out. Se the steps below...
4. Steps to take when converting a US$ dollar amount, with decimals, dollars and cents, and write it in words, in (US) American English.
Step 1. If necessary, round the number to a maximum of two decimals.
There are more than two decimals in our number, so we must round it: $987.146 ≈ $987.15;
The number after the decimal mark (to the right of it) can be between zero (0) and ninety-nine (99).
Step 2. Write out the number before the decimal mark (to the left of it), which represents the dollar amount.
The integer number before the decimal mark (to the left) represents the amount of US$987 dollars.
987 has a 9 in the hundreds place, an 8 in the tens place and a 7 in the ones place.