4.13 Symbols: ampersands, currencies and percentages

•The ampersand – & – should only be used when:

>an organisation or a company or any such entity uses it in its official title or

>when the usage is laced with sarcasm

In no other instance will the ampersand be used; always spell out “and”

○Examples

>Bennett, Coleman & Co.

>The government has been embarrassed by the doings of Vasundhara, Sushma & Co.

•Currencies

If a currency number is being used in a direct quotation, use the number followed by the word ‘rupees’ (or whatever the currency being spoken of).

If the number is less than 10, spell it out, even in a direct quotation.

The principle is to keep the sentence as close to the spoken voice as possible. People rarely say “I spent Rs. 30,000.”

○Examples

>“I spent 30,000 rupees on the cow.”

>“She spent nine rupees to buy the milk.”

But, when it goes into big numerals, it will be:

>He borrowed 1.33 lakh rupees last year.”

If the currency number is not part of a quotation, use either of these two options (as seems suitable in that specific sentence):

>(i)The symbol of the currency/no space/number: $20

>(ii)If the symbol is not available, then Rs/ full stop/ space/ number: Rs. 20

The words lakh/crore/million/billion will be either plural or singular, according to usage.

○Examples

When a currency abbreviation is not used:

>The budget for building the school is 1.6 crore rupees.

When a currency abbreviation is used:

>The budget for building the school is Rs. 1.6 crores.

When a currency symbol is used:

>The World Bank gave a loan of $3 million for the project to India.

When referring to a currency in the text, it is not capitalised: rupees, dollars, euro.

•Percentages

The % symbol will never be used in the article’s text.

○Exception

If the symbol occurs in a graph or a table.

In the text, use two words: per cent

But: percentage (one word)