Language Question

OK, grammar buffs, is it “seventy euro” or “seventy euros”?

15 thoughts on “Language Question

  1. I suppose the question is what we (in the English-speaking world) consider to be the plural of euro; I believe the plural is euro, hence 70 euro. I have certainly heard it in German as “siebzig Euro.”

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    1. In regular conversations I also say “euro” as the plural of “euro.” But is it acceptable in academic writing?

      Google is no help because it gives both versions.

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      1. I just googled “chicago manual of style euro” and it gives a whole bunch of examples with “euro” as the plural (e.g., “40 euro”). So I suppose if both are permitted, than it may be up to the style guide?

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    2. In German, masculine and neuter nouns don’t have plural endings when they are used as units of measurement.

      The plural of Euro in German is technically Euros, but you almost never hear that because it is only in the sense of Euro coins as objects, as soon as you are talking about an amount of money Euro is a unit of measurement and the plural ending isn’t used. You can see the same thing happening with Glas, Stück, Kilo, Laib, and a bunch of others that I can’t think of right now. They all have plural forms, but the plural endings are dropped when they are units of measurement. Ich habe zehn neue Gläser gekauft. Ich habe zwei Glas Wein bestellt.

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    1. “Euri” is the grammatically correct plural of “euro” in Italian, but the EU has instructed all eurozone countries to use “euro” for both single and plural forms of the word.

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  2. I say “Euros” but in writing (except very informally) I use Euro

    It’s the same with Euro cents; I say 40 cents but write 40 cent

    IIRC there was an official EU mandate that Euro and cent not be declined in or localized in official writing in any language which about a fair degree of drama in some countries.

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