Euro Symbol Before or After the Number? (20€ or €20)

Currency amounts and signs are interesting when you really think about them. Knowing where to place the euro symbol is something that changes based on which language you’re writing with. This article will explore how to write a number with the euro sign.

Euro Symbol Before or After the Number?

In English, it is conventionally appropriate to place the euro symbol before the number. It is common to see €500 written. In non-English-speaking countries, you might find that the euro comes after the number. For example, in Swedish, it’s more common to write 500 €.

You might not have considered it before, but the language you use plays an important part in where the euro sign goes. To most English speakers, it should always go before the number. This is also true for other signs like £ and $.

There are some countries in Europe that don’t use a sign at all. Instead, they would just write the cost of something (i.e. 400) without using currency, as it is already implied.

If you are not an English speaker, you might find that either 20 € or EUR 20 is used instead of the more conventional choice where the euro sign comes first.

Euro Symbol Before the Number

You should place the euro symbol before the number when you are writing in conventional English. It’s common to see it used in this way because most major currencies are also written with the sign first. You can use “€30” when you want to show thirty euros, for example.

It might help to go through some examples of how the euro sign is used in some sentences:

I thought she was going to lend me €30. I can see now that she was only joking about that.

I don’t have €65 to give you right now. Please, come back a little later to see if that changes.

She wanted it for €550, but I told her that it was over a 25% discount. I couldn’t go that low!

They gave me €15 to pay him a present. I’m sure I can find something good with that.

Euro Symbol After the Number

Certain European countries place the euro sign after the number when writing in their own language. It’s common for countries like Spain, Italy, France, and Germany to place the euro symbol after the number (or exclude it entirely) when writing monetary values.

You might also find that some people place the euro sign after the number because of how it’s used in spoken English. After all, most people would say “three euros,” which would be more logical to write as “3€” since the euros come second.

Here are some examples of how the euro sign could come after the number:

I’m going to have to ask you for 5€ on top of what you’ve already given me.
Wait, you’re selling this for 26€? That’s basically a steal! I’ll take it.
It’s not going to sell for 100€. You’re going to have to lower that price.
She wanted it for 6€, so I gave it to her because I felt generous.

Pound Sign Before or After the Number?

When the pound sign is used, it should always come before the number. Since it’s common for written English to place all currency symbols before numbers, it makes sense that the UK would stick to these rules when using their own currency.

It is only ever appropriate to place the pound sign before a number. You won’t often find it come after.

The only time when it might come after is when a non-native speaker mistakes its placement. Again, it seems more logical to write “20£” since you would say “twenty pounds.” Nevertheless, this is very rare, and you should not use it.

I thought that she was going to get me the £10 I needed to move on with this.

It’s going to be over £3,000 when it’s all added up. Can you handle that?
I’m not sure if £250 is going to cut it. Is there no way that you can increase that?
We wanted £650,000. We didn’t even get half of that.

Final Thoughts

When you are using the euro sign, convention dictates that it should come before the number. This is very common in written English. However, if you are not using English, but a European language to write euros, you will often find that the symbol comes after the number.

Martin Lassen

Martin holds a Master’s degree in Finance and International Business. He has six years of experience in professional communication with clients, executives, and colleagues. Furthermore, he has teaching experience from Aarhus University. Martin has been featured as an expert in communication and teaching on Forbes and Shopify. Read more about Martin here.