A question about €

[tuulen]

In the US, if something costs one dollar then the price is shown as $1. In Finland, however, if something costs one euro then the price is shown as 1€. Is that correct? Does the € symbol follow the number?

[Jukka Aho]

In the US, if something costs one dollar then the price is shown as $1. In Finland, however, if something costs one euro then the price is shown as 1€. Is that correct? Does the € symbol follow the number?

Yes, the euro symbol follows the number, separated from it by a space. When the euro symbol is used in Finnish text, it is supposed to directly replace the word euro or euroa.

The usual recommendation is not to use the euro symbol in regular text at all but to spell out the word euro in full. Tables and such or reports which list lots of monetary amounts are a different matter. It is also possible to abbreviate the word euro with the mere letter e, which you see used from time to time, although that might not be the best possible practice. See here for more information.

The recommended usage of the euro symbol closely follows the earlier practice employed with the Finnish markka and its official abbreviation, mk.

[Rosamunda]

In the US, if something costs one dollar then the price is shown as $1. In Finland, however, if something costs one euro then the price is shown as 1€. Is that correct? Does the € symbol follow the number?

Yes, the euro symbol follows the number, separated from it by a space. When the euro symbol is used in Finnish text, it is supposed to directly replace the word euro or euroa.

Not everyone agrees with you:

Interinstitutional style guide of the EU:

http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/e ... m#position

Position of the ISO code or euro sign in amounts

In English texts, the ISO code ‘EUR’ is followed by a fixed space and the amount:

a sum of EUR 30

NB:
The same rule applies in Irish, Latvian and Maltese. In all other official EU languages the order is reversed; the amount is followed by a fixed space and the ISO code ‘EUR’ (or the euro sign in graphics):

une somme de 30 EUR

However, the euro sign (when permitted) is followed by the amount without the intervening fixed space:

€2.50

[Rip]

Not everyone agrees with you:

Interinstitutional style guide of the EU:

http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/e ... m#position

Well, i think the discussion was about Finnish text. The Finnish language version of the same guide:

ISO-koodin ja euron tunnuksen paikka

EUR-koodi ja euron tunnus kirjoitetaan luvun jälkeen. Koodi ja tunnus erotetaan luvusta ohukkeella:

30 EUR

Huom:
Tätä sääntöä noudatetaan kaikissa muissa kielissä paitsi englannissa, iirissä, latviassa ja maltassa, jossa koodi on ennen lukua:

EUR 30

http://publications.europa.eu/code/fi/fi-370303.htm

[Upphew]

Not everyone agrees with you:

Interinstitutional style guide of the EU:

http://publications.europa.eu/code/en/e ... m#position

Position of the ISO code or euro sign in amounts

In English texts, the ISO code ‘EUR’ is followed by a fixed space and the amount:

a sum of EUR 30

NB:
The same rule applies in Irish, Latvian and Maltese. In all other official EU languages the order is reversed; the amount is followed by a fixed space and the ISO code ‘EUR’ (or the euro sign in graphics):

une somme de 30 EUR

However, the euro sign (when permitted) is followed by the amount without the intervening fixed space:

€2.50

English Smenglih... did you check the Finnish one? http://publications.europa.eu/code/fi/f ... m#position
Both code EUR and sign € after the amount with the space. In Finnish (and all the other languages, except English, Irish, Latvian and Maltese). And that 7.3.3. is still a draft... they should have some sort of feedback right there on the site, on top of the analysis done by some institutions.

[mrjimsfc]

English Smenglih... did you check the Finnish one? http://publications.europa.eu/code/fi/f ... m#position
Both code EUR and sign € after the amount with the space. In Finnish (and all the other languages, except English, Irish, Latvian and Maltese). And that 7.3.3. is still a draft... they should have some sort of feedback right there on the site, on top of the analysis done by some institutions.

Of course most of the writing done on this BB is in English (Smenglish)....Therefore, on this board it should be EUR 1,00 or (I suppose) €1,00. In Finnish it should be 1,00 EUR (in remembrance of the 1,00 Marka).

[Jukka Aho]

In the US, if something costs one dollar then the price is shown as $1. In Finland, however, if something costs one euro then the price is shown as 1€. Is that correct? Does the € symbol follow the number?

Come to think of it, Finnish retailers rarely bother marking the currency at all in their ads and brochures... they often just use plain numbers. See here and here, for example.
 
Then again, sometimes you see foreign influence.

[Rob A.]

Isn't humanity rather mindboggling???... Such a trivial and arcane issue...yet there are probably dozens of bureaucrats deeply absorbed and seriously analyzing every nuance of the issue....like a religious debate. And the matter of the comma or the decimal point separating the eurot from the sentit has not be raised... But isn't there a word for that?....Pilkku...something or other???

Now, IMNSHO, even though dividing a currency into 100 individual sub-units is, in some quarters, referred to as "decimalization". It really isn't... Those "sub-units" are not really a portion of a whole....they are "units" in and of themselves.... And since, in spoken language, the name of the currency unit always follows the number of the "units" I would posit that the only "rational" way to write out a currency description is thus:

1,50 € (or EUR) and 1,50 US$ ....1,50 CDN$ ...1,50 руб ...

And anyone who disagrees with me ....shall henceforth be excommunicated....

[Jukka Aho]

Isn't humanity rather mindboggling???...:D Such a trivial and arcane issue...yet there are probably dozens of bureaucrats deeply absorbed and seriously analyzing every nuance of the issue....like a religious debate.

Oh, we have not even touched the depths of the subject yet! No-one has commented on the fact that the Finnish version of the EU paper Rip quoted said ”EUR-koodi ja euron tunnus kirjoitetaan luvun jälkeen. Koodi ja tunnus erotetaan luvusta ohukkeella”

Ohuke is typographer’s jargon and means “thin space” (U+2009, a space whose width is 1/5 em or 1/6 em.)

[tuulen]

...Oh, we have not even touched the depths of the subject yet!...

Equally as difficult as learning the Finnish language is in learning the notation of the separation of whole numerical units and decimals!

My background is in engineering, where mathematics is predominant, and where 1,00 and 1.00 are not the same.

1,00 is a foreign language!

[Jukka Aho]

Equally as difficult as learning the Finnish language is in learning the notation of the separation of whole numerical units and decimals!

My background is in engineering, where mathematics is predominant, and where 1,00 and 1.00 are not the same.

1,00 is a foreign language!

Here’s the physics part of last year’s Finnish Matriculation Examination. Note the usage of decimal commas!
 

[maxxfi]

Ohuke is typographer’s jargon and means “thin space” (U+2009, a space whose width is 1/5 em or 1/6 em.)

Finnish tetrapylectomy at work! I checked the text in a few other EU-languages and they all just seem to use the generic term 'space'.

[Rob A.]

Ohuke is typographer’s jargon and means “thin space” (U+2009, a space whose width is 1/5 em or 1/6 em.)

Finnish tetrapylectomy at work! I checked the text in a few other EU-languages and they all just seem to use the generic term 'space'.

....a new word for me!! ...and I see we have the great Umberto Eco to thank for coining it...in his book, Il pendolo di Foucault.... I prefer to quote in Italian....more cerebral and academic that way...well, actually just more pedantic...

http://www.worldwidewords.org/weirdwords/ww-tet1.htm

...and a good idea that...universities having a Department of Tetrapyloctomy...."to inculcate a sense of irrelevance in its students"... And, hey, I don't know about you, but the study of Assyrio-Babylonian philately sounds intriguing to me...

Finally, I agree that the actual word, "tetrapyloctomy"...(and, tsk, tsk, I note you spelt it wrong in your post...) ...anyway, the word, "tetrapyloctomy" as the link notes is a "miscegenated linguistic sandwich"....and it actually offends me deeply.... Where will it all end if we continue to carelessly mix up Greek and Latin like this??? ...

As an alternative I respectfully offer up this:

"tetratrichactomy"....pure Greek all the way....

[Bavarian]

Now, IMNSHO, even though dividing a currency into 100 individual sub-units is, in some quarters, referred to as "decimalization". It really isn't... Those "sub-units" are not really a portion of a whole....they are "units" in and of themselves.... And since, in spoken language, the name of the currency unit always follows the number of the "units" I would posit that the only "rational" way to write out a currency description is thus:

1,50 € (or EUR) and 1,50 US$ ....1,50 CDN$ ...1,50 руб ...

Of course, in spoken language it's common to use only the name of the main unit of currency (the one to the left of the decimal point/comma) and not the fractional units when mentioning a price. I'm reminded of the following American joke:

Q: What's the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?
A: Beer nuts are a dollar forty-nine. Deer nuts are under a buck.



It's also not uncommon to omit the currency units entirely, although my great-aunt once learned to her horror that "two-forty" could mean $240, and not necessarily $2.40, when she needed emergency car repairs on a Sunday. (Great-aunt, fortunately, was a nun wearing her habit, and the mechanic trusted her to the point that he sent the bill to the convent.)

[tuulen]

Q: What's the difference between beer nuts and deer nuts?
A: Beer nuts are a dollar forty-nine. Deer nuts are under a buck.