Whether you're counting your change, lending money to a friend, or checking out the price tag on a shirt at the store, it's important to know how to read and write money amounts.
Let's take a look at this dollar and cents amount: $5.73.
The first symbol we see, $, is the dollar sign. This tells us that the number we are looking at is an amount of money.
The point in the middle of the number is the decimal point. The number of dollars comes before the decimal point, and the number of cents comes after the decimal point.
To read dollar amounts, we say the number of dollars, "and" for the decimal point, and then the number of cents. So $5.73 would be read as 5 dollars and 73 cents.
Now let's practice. How would you read the dollar amount $7.19? You would say 7 dollars and 19 cents.
What if you have to write a dollar amount? First, write a dollar sign. Then write the number of dollars, followed by a decimal point. Finally, write the number of cents. You're done! For instance, 11 dollars and 6 cents would be written as $11.06.
