Effective Writing in English

Spelling guidelines

13. Numbers

English and Dutch differ radically concerning the use of punctuation in numbers and amounts of money. In fact, the rule is quite simple: where Dutch uses a comma, English uses a full stop; and where Dutch uses a full stop, English uses a comma:

Dutch English
€ 6,50 £4.10 four pounds 10 pence
120.000 120,000 one hundred and twenty thousand
3,561 3.561 three point five six one

Note incidentally that in current spoken Dutch one quite often hears twee punt driealongside twee komma drie, presumably under influence of the computer. In English there is of course no variation: two point three is the only possibility.