Dot or comma

How to separate thousands and decimals in English

In short, Danish and English are each other’s opposites when it comes to separating thousands and decimals.

In Danish:    In English:   

Dots are used to separate thousands:

  • Der bor 7.307 mennesker i Brande.

Commas are used to separate decimals:

  • Hun købte bland selv-slik for 68,95 kr. 

Commas are used to separate thousands:

  • There were 20,000 people at the Foo Fighters concert.

Dots are used to separate decimals:

  • At the concert, temperatures reached 27.6 °C.

And now that we are at it: Note that in Danish you have a space between the per cent sign and the number. In English, there is no spacing:

  • Butikken havde ophørsudsalg, så han sparede 40 % på bukserne.
  • Whatever you do, always give 100% - unless you’re donating blood.