Money, Prices and Banking

Money vocabulary splits into three: talking about cost, handling transactions, and dealing with a bank. All three come up fast if you are abroad.

Talking about cost

• How much does it cost? / How much is it?
• It costs £40. (not it costs about 40 pounds of money)
• That's good value. (worth what you pay)
• It's a bargain. (much cheaper than expected)
• It's a rip-off. (far too expensive — informal, quite strong)
• I can't afford it.
• We're on a tight budget.

Cheap vs inexpensive: cheap often implies poor quality as well as low price. Inexpensive and affordable do not.

Paying

• Can I pay by card? / in cash / by bank transfer
• Do you take contactless?
• Could I have a receipt, please?
• Is service included?
• Let's split the bill. (divide equally)
• I'll get this. / It's on me. (I'll pay for everyone)

Verbs that get confused

• spend money on something: I spent £50 on books.
• pay for something: I paid for the meal.
• cost — the thing is the subject: The meal cost £50.
• lend = give / borrow = take: Can you lend me £10? / Can I borrow £10?
• save = keep for later / save up for = accumulate towards
• owe = have a debt: I owe you £20.

❌ I paid the meal. → ✅ I paid for the meal. ❌ I spent £50 for books. → ✅ I spent £50 on books.

At the bank

account · current account · savings account · balance · statement · withdraw · deposit · transfer · overdraft · interest · loan · mortgage · exchange rate · commission

• I'd like to open an account.
• What's the exchange rate today?
• Do you charge commission?
• My card's been declined.
• I need to withdraw some cash.

Problems

• I've been charged twice.
• There's a payment on my statement I don't recognise.
• I'd like to report a lost card.

Test yourself

The quiz below focuses on the confused verbs.