Saying prices

Question

I have a question about saying prices.

I work in a pharmacy and sometimes wait on Spanish speaking customers. In some of my beginner books, when you tell someone a price, the book usually teaches you to say a more formal form such as "tres dolares y dieciseis centavos". However, isn't there a less formal, more natural way to say this? I usually say something like "3 16" instead of "3 dollars and 16 cents". Is this form also correct in Spanish? Are there any other forms of dollars and cents that I should know about?

Thanks

(I was trying to add this to a comment but I guess it was too long): I had a situation a while back that made me realize that I needed to study Spanish again. I work in a pharmacy and I had a regular customer come in who doesn't speak great English. She sometimes comes in with her son but that day she was alone. I thought I would try and be helpful and say the price in Spanish. It got kind of confusing because I think the total was something like $16.85 and I said "sesenta" instead of "dieciseis". Plus she depends alot on the touch screen to see the total and when it renders a 0 it looks like an 8. Lots of "lo siento". I think I did manage to say "esta es zero" and figure out I said the wrong thing. I don't know if she quite understood but I did promise I would try to get better.

Good question Joel. :) - Nicole-B, May 2, 2011

Answer 1

Hi joel, this is a good question, very good indeed, I am going to open a thread on this one to see what customs we can find in other countries.

In Spain, which probably does not help you, we use:

son 3 con noventa (3€ 90 cents)

Being in the US, most of my customers are of course from Mexico. I would love to know any extra customs they have there. - Joel, May 2, 2011

Answer 2

I work at Kmart and we have a lot of Spanish speaking people. As a cashier, and just barely learning Spanish, I just say the amount as best I can and then ask them if I said it right. Usually they understand the dollar amount no matter how I say it, but then they want me to say "centavos" for the change. They just love to help me learn and will often take me word by word through a transaction! I can tell they appreciate my efforts. Makes work fun!

So have fun with it and don't worry about what's "proper" too much; communication is more than words, it's attitude, too!

Thanks, I'll try to use that form. I found a website that generates random prices that I can use to practice with. - Joel, May 2, 2011

Answer 3

Yes, you can say it this way as long as 3:16 isn´t confused with 3 hundred sixteen dollars.

I work in a drugstore so the prices are generally lower than $100. Once in awhile you find someone without insurance with a total that high and so even in English its hard to say. - Joel, May 2, 2011

If there is any possibility of confusion, then you would be better off for clarity to say the complete phrase "Tres dólares y (con) diez y seis centavos." In this case, it's not so much a matter of formality as is being clearly understood - 005faa61, May 2, 2011

Answer 4

This post reminds me that it is just so great to learn your numbers early on when you are learning Spanish. Even if you can't speak very well, it is great to be able to shop and bargain for prices when you know how to count into the thousands in Spanish.