Learn useful phrases for your vacation
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Currency in the UK |
| In the UK, the currency is the pound. The money comes in coins and notes, with the coins representing the smaller currency units. There are 100 pence in a pound. There are 1 pence, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, 1 pound, and 2 pound coins. You will often see 5 pound, 10 pound, and 20 pound notes. 50 pound notes also exist, but these are less common. |
| SURVIVAL PHRASES |
| So let’s try to say prices in English. We’ll start with £28.50. |
| The long way to say this is ‘twenty-eight pounds and fifty pence.’ |
| Slowly: twenty-eight pounds and fifty pence. |
| First of all we say the number of pounds, which in this case is ‘twenty-eight pounds’. Secondly, note that the two numbers are separated by the conjunction ‘and’. Finally, we say the number of pence, which in this example is ‘fifty pence’. It’s worth noting the singular form ‘pound’ and the plural form ‘pounds’, while ‘pence’ is the same if it’s singular or plural. |
| The slightly quicker, and more common, way of saying prices in the UK is to drop the word ‘pence’. So this example would be ‘twenty-eight pounds, fifty.’ |
| Slowly: Twenty-eight pounds, fifty. |
| Let’s hear one more example. |
| The price £4.99 would be said ‘four ninety-nine’. Prices ending in 99 pence are very common in the UK, so this is a good one to remember. With prices like this, both the words ‘pound’ and ‘pence’ will be dropped, so it might be a little difficult to catch. |
| There are many casual ways to talk about money in the UK. ‘Pound’ is often referred to as ‘quid’, while ‘pence’ is simply called ‘p’. For the word “quid”, it is usually used for whole amounts. For example “three quid”, meaning “three pounds” or “ten quid”, meaning “ten pounds”. If the amount is less than a pound, or less than one hundred pence, you could say “p” for the number of pence. For example “fifty six p”, meaning “fifty six pence.” |
| When it comes to notes, you may hear people say ‘fiver’ for a five pound note, ‘tenner’ for a ten pound note, and simply ‘twenty’ for a twenty pound note. |
| Okay, to close out this lesson we’d like you to practice what you’ve just learned. I’ll provide you with the phrase, and you’re responsible for shouting it out loud. You have a few seconds before I give you the answer. So good luck! |
| - Twenty-eight pounds and fifty pence |
| - Twenty-eight pounds, fifty |
| - Four ninety-nine |
| - Quid |
| - P |
| - Fiver |
| - Tenner |
Outro |
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| Alright! That’s going to do it for this lesson. Bye! |
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