Let’s say that you owe someone $15. Using Australian currency, the most efficient way of expressing this amount of money is with a $10 note and a $5 note. If you gave that person a $10 note and 10 50c coins, how would you apologise? Would you say:
Sorry I can’t express this amount of money with a smaller number of notes or coins
Just roles off the tongue doesn’t it? Maybe this:
Sorry I don’t have smaller change
But that sounds wrong. That’s what I would say if I paid for my coffee with a $100 note.
Sorry I can’t pay you more efficiently
Is “efficient” the word I’m looking for? I feel like there’s a better way to structure this sentence.