The European decimal notation system

On 2003-02-12 22:43, satnii wrote:

Hi to all.



This question may be too basic for some folks, but I am a bit confused by the fact that some/most of European countries seem to delimit numbers every two/three digit using a period instead of using a comma.



For example, what would be the equivalent number of 100.00,00 Euros without taking the foreign exchange rates into consideration if it was followed by the US decimal notation system? Would that be 10,000.00 dollars? Could anyone also tell me which European countries delimit numbers every \"two\" digit?



Thank you in advance.

satnii





Hi Satnii,



In the UK, Ireland and Britain you use \".\" to indicate the decimal point. One hundred Euros and 50 cents would be expressed as follows:



150.50



In Germany (and I assume in other continental countries as well) the \"point\" that divides the full numbers from the fractions is referred to as \"comma\". Thus, the same amount on the continent is written as follows:



150,50



With amounts over one thousand, dividers are used so that it is easier to recognise the amount. In the English speaking countries this is done by \",\" and on the continent by \".\" (I guess to distinguish from the decimal separation).



One thousand would be expressed in English speaking countries as follows:



1,000



on the continent:



1.000



it then continues as follows:



UK, Ireland, USA etc:



1,000 (one thousand)

10,000 (ten thousand)

100,000 (one hundred thousand)

1,000,000 (one million)

10,000,000 (ten million)

100,000,000 (one hundred million)

1,000,000,000 (one billion)



10,500.50 (ten thousand five hundred [Euro] and fifty cents)



the equivalent on the European continent:



1.000

10.000

100.000

1.000.000

10.000.000

100.000.000

1.000.000.000



10.500,50 (ten thousand five hundred [Euro] and fifty cents).



I do not think that there are any European countries that divide their numbers every \"two\" digits except for telephone numbers in some countries as, I believe, Spain for example (however, if anyone feels that I am wrong on this please feel free to correct me).



On a few occasions I had discussions with confused clients about this - once even with a proofreader. However, this is how it is done - don\'t ask me why



I hope I could help.



All the best



Karl



[ This Message was edited by:on2003-02-13 12:17] ▲ Collapse