Egyptian reads a decimal point as فاصلة, but a shop price is not always spoken as a formal decimal. اتنين فاصلة خمسة كيلو is a precise measurement, اتنين كيلو ونص is the ordinary mixed-fraction equivalent, and خمسة وعشرين جنيه وخمسين قرش names both currency units in a price.
The baseline here is mainstream Cairene (informal). Banking, engineering, and dictated data favor explicit digits and units (technical/formal); quick market talk favors familiar fractions, omitted currency units, and connected pronunciation. Neither style licenses MSA case endings in an otherwise Egyptian sentence.
Rule 1: فاصلة separates the whole from the decimal part
Say the whole-number portion, then فاصلة, then the decimal portion. For a short everyday decimal, speakers commonly treat a nonzero decimal portion as a number: 3.5 is تلاتة فاصلة خمسة, and 12.25 is اتناشر فاصلة خمسة وعشرين. In careful dictation, each digit after the point may instead be read separately so that no place can be missed.
درجة الحرارة تلاتة فاصلة خمسة.
daragit il-ḥarāra talāta fāṣla khamsa.
The temperature is three point five.
الطول اتناشر فاصلة خمسة وعشرين سنتي.
iṭ-ṭūl itnāshar fāṣla khamsa wi-ʿishrīn santi.
The length is twelve point twenty-five centimeters.
فاصلة is lexically feminine, but the numbers on either side do not “agree with the point.” Each numeral is simply read in its own normal shape. The measured noun may be masculine (الطول) or feminine (درجة); this does not change the spoken decimal.
Rule 2: say zeros explicitly after the point
Zeros after the point carry place value. In careful speech, 0.05 is صفر فاصلة صفر خمسة. Saying only صفر فاصلة خمسة gives 0.5, ten times as much. This is not merely a pronunciation detail: dropping a zero changes the quantity.
النسبة صفر فاصلة صفر خمسة.
in-nisba ṣifr fāṣla ṣifr khamsa.
The ratio is zero point zero five.
اكتب واحد فاصلة صفر تلاتة، مش واحد فاصلة تلاتة.
uktub wāḥid fāṣla ṣifr talāta, mish wāḥid fāṣla talāta.
Write one point zero three, not one point three—addressed to a man.
Arabic and Western digit shapes can both occur in Egypt. The notation may show a dot or an Arabic decimal separator, but the spoken separator remains فاصلة in ordinary numeric reading. See Arabic and Western digits for writing conventions.
The word نقطة “point” occurs in English-influenced technical talk and when reading web or software strings (technical/code-switched). It is not incomprehensible, but فاصلة is the dependable Egyptian choice for a numerical decimal.
Rule 3: familiar measures often prefer a mixed fraction
Exact decimal language is useful when precision matters. In everyday buying and measuring, halves and quarters usually sound more natural as fraction phrases. Compare اتنين فاصلة خمسة كيلو with conversational اتنين كيلو ونص; both denote 2.5 kg, but they package the amount differently.
الميزان كاتب اتنين فاصلة خمسة كيلو بالظبط.
il-mīzān kātib itnēn fāṣla khamsa kīlo biẓ-ẓabṭ.
The scale says exactly 2.5 kilos.
هاتلي اتنين كيلو ونص رز.
hātli itnēn kīlo wi-nuṣṣ rozz.
Get me two and a half kilos of rice.
The measured noun does not become plural just because the value exceeds one. Units such as كيلو frequently remain in a fixed measure form after a decimal. Elsewhere the numeral tier still matters: تلات كتب has a plural counted noun, but تلاتين كتاب has a singular one. Decimal notation does not abolish Egyptian counted-noun grammar.
Rule 4: a full price can name pounds and piastres
The Egyptian pound is جنيه and one hundred piastres make a pound; the everyday piastre word is قرش. A price such as 25.50 can be read as خمسة وعشرين جنيه وخمسين قرش. Each unit follows the number appropriate to its own part of the price.
الحساب خمسة وعشرين جنيه وخمسين قرش.
il-ḥisāb khamsa wi-ʿishrīn ginēh wi-khamsīn ʾirsh.
The bill is twenty-five pounds and fifty piastres.
معاكي فكة خمسين جنيه؟
maʿāki fakka khamsīn ginēh?
Do you have change for fifty pounds—addressed to a woman?
After 11–99, currency nouns are normally singular: خمسة وعشرين جنيه, not plural جنيهات. The same numeral pattern applies to a masculine human noun and a feminine human noun: خمسة وعشرين موظف and خمسة وعشرين موظفة. Lexical gender remains in the noun, but the decade portion does not change.
الفرع فيه خمسة وعشرين موظف وخمسة وعشرين موظفة.
il-farʿ fīh khamsa wi-ʿishrīn muwaẓẓaf wi-khamsa wi-ʿishrīn muwaẓẓafa.
The branch has twenty-five male employees and twenty-five female employees.
Other currencies behave as unit nouns too: دولار “dollar” and يورو “euro.” Their plurals occur in the numeral environments that call for plurals, but exact amounts above ten commonly use the singular unit: عشرين دولار. Pronunciation of borrowed currency names can vary by speaker and community; the numeral syntax is stable.
Rule 5: context can license a shorter money reading
Once pounds are understood, speakers often omit جنيه. A shopkeeper can answer بخمسة وعشرين ونص “for twenty-five and a half,” meaning 25.50 pounds. This is economical conversational ellipsis, not a new decimal system.
الواحدة بكام؟
il-wāḥda bi-kām?
How much is one?
بخمسة وعشرين ونص، والاتنين بخمسين.
bi-khamsa wi-ʿishrīn wi-nuṣṣ, wi-l-itnēn bi-khamsīn.
Twenty-five and a half, or fifty for two.
The feminine الواحدة refers to an understood feminine item. In a careful receipt or when currencies might be confused, keep the unit: خمسة وعشرين جنيه وخمسين قرش. In a local cash exchange, the shorter version is natural.
Prices also allow a time comparison without changing number grammar:
لو استنيت نص ساعة، السعر حينزل لتلاتين جنيه.
law istannēt nuṣṣ sāʿa, is-siʿr ḥa-yinzil li-talatīn ginēh.
If you wait half an hour, the price will drop to thirty pounds.
Careful and fast numeral forms
Careful خمسة وعشرين جنيه may preserve a clear boundary after و: khamsa wi-ʿishrīn ginēh. In fast Cairo speech, the sequence compresses toward khamsa-wiʿishrīn ginēh. The units-first compound order remains: five-and-twenty, not an English-style twenty-five order.
دي بخمسة وعشرين جنيه.
di bi-khamsa-wiʿishrīn ginēh.
This one is twenty-five pounds—fast connected compound numeral.
That connected reading is informal phonetics. It should not be respelled by deleting the conjunction from ordinary Arabic.
Common Mistakes
Losing a place-value zero
❌ النسبة صفر فاصلة خمسة.
Incorrect for 0.05—this says 0.5.
✅ النسبة هنا صفر فاصلة صفر خمسة.
in-nisba hina ṣifr fāṣla ṣifr khamsa.
The ratio here is zero point zero five.
Using a plural unit after 25
❌ الحساب خمسة وعشرين جنيهات.
Incorrect—11–99 take a singular counted noun in the everyday Egyptian pattern.
✅ الحساب خمسة وعشرين جنيه.
il-ḥisāb khamsa wi-ʿishrīn ginēh.
The bill is twenty-five pounds.
Copying English tens-first order
❌ الحساب عشرين وخمسة جنيه.
Incorrect—Egyptian compound numbers put the unit before the decade.
✅ الحساب خمسة وعشرين جنيه.
il-ḥisāb khamsa wi-ʿishrīn ginēh.
The bill is twenty-five pounds.
Treating a technical register choice as the neutral shop form
❌ الكيلو اتنين نقطة خمسة.
Register mismatch in ordinary market talk—نقطة is associated with technical or English-influenced reading here.
✅ الكيلو اتنين ونص.
il-kīlo itnēn wi-nuṣṣ.
A kilo costs two and a half—natural when the currency is already understood.
Reciting formal case vowels in an Egyptian price
الحساب عشرين جنيه.
il-ḥisāb ʿishrīn ginēh.
al-ḥisābu ʿishrūna dʒunayhan
The bill is twenty pounds—not a Cairene price with formal MSA case endings.
Key Takeaways
- Read a decimal with فاصلة, and preserve every meaningful zero after it.
- Familiar halves and quarters often sound more natural as mixed fractions than as decimals.
- A full cash price can name both units: جنيه then قرش; context often permits the unit to be omitted.
- Currency and measure nouns still obey Egyptian number tiers. Decimal notation does not replace noun-number grammar.
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