In which case are items written in a different order than they are read aloud?


When talking about money, people often write "$1", but read this as "one dollar", rather than "dollar one". (Same with "£1" and "one pound"). Are there any other situations, besides currency, in which items are written in a different order in which they are spoken or read aloud?



Answer



Sometimes this happens with other units of measurement, particularly when the unit is squared. That is, we might write "12 ft2", but say "twelve square feet," or "10 mi2" as "ten square miles."


This example isn't as universal as currency – that is, no one says "dollar one," but some might say "ten miles square."


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