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I want to write the following:

The whole apparatus cost less than 30 dollars

Seems natural and attractive to me. Now, how do I make clear that I am referring to USD here? My alternatives are given below:

The whole apparatus cost less than USD 30.

Seems unnatural.

The whole apparatus cost less than 30 USD.

Unnatural.

The whole apparatus cost less than 30 US dollars.

Probably, the best choice I have.

The whole apparatus cost less than $30.

Natural, but I have not made clear that I am referring to USD.

What would you use?

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  • 1
    Is it just one sentence or do you need to do this a number of times?
    – Laurel ♦
    Commented Nov 22, 2023 at 14:58
  • @Laurel Just one time.
    – tryingtobeastoic
    Commented Nov 22, 2023 at 15:08
  • Highly related and probably a duplicate (because it can be used to answer this question)
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Nov 22, 2023 at 15:12
  • 2
    "The whole apparatus cost less than 30 US dollars" is the most natural IMO. But it's a matter of opinion ("What would you use?"). Often the currency unit will be obvious, and some style guides will specify how currencies should be specified (the Guardian says $50 or US$50).
    – Stuart F
    Commented Nov 22, 2023 at 15:26
  • Although "USD 30" might sound unnatural to you at first glance, it's just following the same idea as "30 cm" or "$30" or "cos(θ)" - standard notation allows people to communicate efficiently. Spelling it out as "thirty centimeters", "thirty dollars" or "the cosine function applied to the variable θ" can result in a separate parsing step that gets in the way of fast reading. Your first suggestion works.
    – Lawrence
    Commented Nov 22, 2023 at 16:45

1 Answer 1

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If you're following a style guide, check to see what it says.

In some cases, the intended currency will be obvious to the audience so the symbol alone can be used. (For example, if you're telling an American audience about the profits at an American company.) Other times, the ISO standard or IBAN code ("USD") will be recommended by a style guide. Many also give you the option to spell it out, in words. See Chicago for example:

Chicago style is to either use numbers with a symbol (or abbreviation) or spell out the whole phrase, so “€2,000” or “EUR 2,000” or “two thousand euros” would do.

There is another popular option — US$ — which comes before the number. See for example the style manual of the Australian government (whose primary currency is the Australian dollar):

When referencing ‘dollar’ currencies, use a country prefix followed by the ‘$’ symbol – for example, A$, C$, NZ$, US$. If there is any chance of confusion, use the 3-letter IBAN codes.

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