Money

Notes and coins

Here are some examples of British money. The currency (= the type of money used in a country) is called sterling.

Common verbs

Notice how these common verbs arc used.

spend £££ (on) sth. Last week I spent £100 on food, and £ 20 on books.
pay for)sth. I paid £ 200 for my new desk. (= it cost me £ 200) Where do I have to pay for these things?
cost My new desk cost (me) £ 200. (= I paid £ 200)
charge The mechanic charged me £ 100. (= asked me to pay £ 100 for the service he provided)
lend Could you lend me some money? or
borrow Could I borrow some money?
waste Parents often think that children waste their money (= use it badly) on sweets and other things that they don't need.
save (up) I'm saving (up) (= keeping some of my money when I receive it) for a new bike. I should have enough by the end of the year.


Important words and phrases

I can't afford (= don't have enough money) to go on holiday this year. How much is that watch worth? (= What is the value of that watch?) It's worth about £ 50. (= the value is £ 50) The cost of living (= how much people pay for things) is very high in places like Sweden or Norway, but people still have a good standard of living (= the level of money and comfort people have).

Exercises

1. Fill the gaps using the past tense of verbs from the box. Be careful, most of them are irregular.

buy
spend
lose
pay
cost
sell
win
waste
find
give

  1. My car was five years old, so I……. it and …a new one.
  2. I was very sad when I my watch in the street. It was a present from my wife
    and it her a lot of money. Fortunately, somebody…… it the next day and took it to a Police Station.
  3. 1 over £2,000 for my computer, but it isn't worth very much now.
  4. My father me £50 last week but I most of it on a ticket for a concert on Friday.
  5. Last week somebody £1m in a game on television. It was incredibly exciting.
  6. I'm afraid I my money on those CDs because I never play them.
2. What can you say in these situations? Complete the sentences but do not use the underlined words and phrases.
Example: You want to tell a friend that a restaurant wasn't cheap.
The restaurant was quite expensive.
  1. You want to know the value of your friend's gold ring.
    How much is ...............?
  2. A friend wants to go to an expensive restaurant but you don't have enough money.
    I'm afraid I............. /
  3. You want to borrow some money from a friend. Could you ............. ?
  4. You want to know how much a friend paid for her dictionary.
    How much .............. ?
3. How quickly can you answer these questions? Write down answers to all of them in one minute, then go back and check. If possible, ask someone else the same questions.
1 Is the currency in America called the dollar?
2 Is a five-pound note worth less than a fifty-pence piece?
3 If you lend something to someone, do they borrow it?
4 If you waste money, do you use it well?
5 Is 'sterling' a currency?
6 If you 'can't afford' something, do you have enough money for it?
7 Does 'cost of living' mean the same as 'standard of living'?
8 If someone tells you a hotel is reasonable, is it very expensive?

4. Write down the approximate price of six things in your country, e.g. a daily newspaper, a short bus journey, a cup of coffee in a bar/cafe, a ticket for the cinema, a takeaway hamburger, a pair of jeans, etc. Do you think the price is expensive, reasonable, cheap? Compare your answers with someone from the same town, and if possible, someone from a different country.