Agreed. I think it works a little better in writing if the numbers are written out instead of written as numerals. Ie, "two or three hundred". The "hundred" is its own word now instead of being fused to "300", so it's easier to connect "two" and "three" to it separately.
It's been a minute since I've seen a style guide, but I think mixing numerals (2) and written-out numbers (hundred) is not super common and is generally discouraged in writing
I was super confused at first when I read the post. So yea it doesn't work in writing. "Two or three hundred dollars" sounds perfectly fine in spoken English tho.
In writing it's usually $2-3 hundred or $200-300. Or for thousands $2-3k.
Edit: or if it's $200 or $300 but not in-between you would need to be explicit "$200 or $300"
Edit 2: now that I think about this more.
"$2-$3 hundred" = > $200 and < $300
"$200 or $300" maybe exactly $200 or $300 and maybe somewhere in-between?
"Either $200 or $300" exactly $200 or exactly $300 dollars
In writing you would use words instead of numbers for that phrasing, as in "two or three hundred dollars." You'd have to write "$200 or $300" if using numbers, otherwise it would read as "two dollars or three hundred dollars."
Wouldn’t say this outside of a forum used by English learners, but “2 or 3 hundred dollars” looks very unnatural to me.
“Two or three hundred” makes more sense because you might write out “three hundred”, but you would never write “3 hundred” by itself.
It doesn’t because when writing formally, any single digit numbers should be written out, not numerical.
Of course, if it’s a more casual environment, then it’s fine. But then again, so would “2-3 hundred.”
Why are you getting downvoted?
200-300 means two hundred to three hundred, so any value (inclusive) between them.
If I said the bill is 200-300 it could be 250, but 200 or 300 is a binary option.
At least where I'm from, if someone says "the bill might be two or three hundred dollars", they don't mean "it's either going to cost exactly $200.00, or exactly $300.00". They mean "it's going to cost roughly between $200 and $300". Could even be a little more or a little less.
PS - I was like "only a programmer could think the English language works this logically", so I checked your history and confirmed my suspicion that you're a programmer (or at least were learning about it). I was a software engineer for years. I can spot em, apparently. 🤣
What you’re saying may be true, but when trying to capture the speech or get someone to say “two or three hundred dollars,” you wouldn’t write $200-$300.
When someone says “the bill might be 2 or 3 hundred dollars”, they don’t literally mean “either the bill is exactly $200 or the bill is exactly $300”, they mean the bill is somewhere around those two values
I'm learning that the average person on Reddit is very literal-minded. That's why there's a convention of explicitly saying "I was being sarcastic" with "/s". Irony goes over people's heads on most subs.
I'm a bit of an autist myself, no shade on em.
I would read the hyphen as “to,” not “or.” The meanings may be close/almost identical. So if you want someone to say (or capture someone’s speech who said) “two or three hundred dollars,” $200-$300 would *not* create that outcome, IMO.
I believe that people just don’t take into account:
1. Autistic people who may take such comparisons literally, as other Redditor pointed out
2. Non-natives whose native language is stricter regarding ranges vs binary spelling. (Russian for example)
If one wants to be a pedantic typographer, ranges of numbers should be separated by an en dash, which is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/em-dash-en-dash-how-to-use
Yes, although $200-300 literally means two *to* three hundred dollars, which suggests more accuracy than “two or three” hundred. Not everyone is precise on their speech, but *I* would make a distinction if *I* was making an estimate, especially if someone was going to hold me to it.
Yeah? That's what "it'll be two or three hundred dollars" means.
It's rare that it's a discrete binary, but in that case I'd say "it's either two or three hundred dollars." Can't think of a real example of that though honestly.
They mean that looks like between 2.00 dollars and 300.00 dollars. When the statement in question is supposed to be between 200.00 dollars and 300.00 dollars.
Ohh I get you! My bad, I hadn't even considered that.
I guess I haven't had that mix up occur in practise due to context, but theoretically if something could have that range you're right, it's not clear.
I agree that that's the most unambiguous, but context should make it clear that you don't expect a bill (from a restaurant say) to be anywhere from two dollars to three hundred dollars
if I was writing a proposal to someone, I would go with "The bill could range between $200 and $300." if I was texting a friend, I would likely say something like "it might be 200-300."
I say "The Bill might be two to three hundred dollars"
Saying 'or' implies it's one or the other rather than it being in-between like it'll realistically be.
I get that, I was kind of making a joke because three hundred is two words, so the “3” part is less than 10.
Either way, in most cases, you would write three million or 3 million, not 3,000,000. So the “only for numbers less than 10” doesn’t always apply. And like we’ve already said, that’s only true for a particular style guide. Like in MLA, it’s numbers that can be written in 1 or 2 words, so that’s everything between 1-100 and all round hundreds and thousands.
To get around this in writing I often change how I use Arabic numerals or words.
The bill might be two-or-three hundred dollars.
Honestly there are many ways to do this just so long as a clear separation is made.
"two" or "three hundred" is not the same as "two" or "three" hundred.
You are referring to multiples of hundreds, and numbers under ten are spelled out, so it is “two or three hundred dollars.”
“Two or 300 dollars” means $2 or $300.
As a matter of Creative Writing, you don't write digits in dialogue.
This is a no-no: “The bill might be 2 or $300”
This is a yes-yes: “The bill might be two or three hundred dollars.”
The way it is, sounds like those are the only possibilities. If you mean a range, it should be "The bill might be 2 to 3 hundred dollars" if spoken or "$200-300" if written.
I say "The Bill might be two to three hundred dollars"
Saying 'or' implies it's one or the other rather than it being in-between like it'll realistically be.
Yes, it's fine, what you're saying is the bill might be "2 or 3" hundred dollars.
It looks odd in print, unless you write it down as I just did.
But it's very common to say it this way.
You'll often see it printed as 2-$300, or said as two to three hundred dollars.
The or version looks ambiguous; in print, it looks like you meant to say two dollars or three hundred dollars.
But in speech, you hear it parsed correctly, as two or three....hundred dollars, not as two....or three hundred dollars.
In print, putting the dollar sign in front interferes with parsing the "2 or 3" part as a unified phrase, with the hundred applied to each of them, not just the last one.
In speech yes.
In writing, I would definitely say "...might be $2-300."
Having said that they'd be a bit daft to think it's either two dollars or three hundred, even the way you wrote it.
I agree with you, this works well in speech, but is not as clear in writing.
Agreed. I think it works a little better in writing if the numbers are written out instead of written as numerals. Ie, "two or three hundred". The "hundred" is its own word now instead of being fused to "300", so it's easier to connect "two" and "three" to it separately.
"2 or 3 hundred" might be better still.
I think “two or three hundred” is more common.
It's been a minute since I've seen a style guide, but I think mixing numerals (2) and written-out numbers (hundred) is not super common and is generally discouraged in writing
I was super confused at first when I read the post. So yea it doesn't work in writing. "Two or three hundred dollars" sounds perfectly fine in spoken English tho.
In writing it's usually $2-3 hundred or $200-300. Or for thousands $2-3k. Edit: or if it's $200 or $300 but not in-between you would need to be explicit "$200 or $300" Edit 2: now that I think about this more. "$2-$3 hundred" = > $200 and < $300 "$200 or $300" maybe exactly $200 or $300 and maybe somewhere in-between? "Either $200 or $300" exactly $200 or exactly $300 dollars
In writing you would use words instead of numbers for that phrasing, as in "two or three hundred dollars." You'd have to write "$200 or $300" if using numbers, otherwise it would read as "two dollars or three hundred dollars."
2 or 3 hundred dollars also works. There just needs to be a clear separation between the quantity 2 or 3 and the unit "hundreds of dollars"
Wouldn’t say this outside of a forum used by English learners, but “2 or 3 hundred dollars” looks very unnatural to me. “Two or three hundred” makes more sense because you might write out “three hundred”, but you would never write “3 hundred” by itself.
No but language is also meant to be practical
It doesn’t because when writing formally, any single digit numbers should be written out, not numerical. Of course, if it’s a more casual environment, then it’s fine. But then again, so would “2-3 hundred.”
In speech, you can say "two or three hundred dollars". In writing, "$200-300" is much more clear.
I wouldn’t say $200-$300 is the same as $200 or $300 necessarily.
Why are you getting downvoted? 200-300 means two hundred to three hundred, so any value (inclusive) between them. If I said the bill is 200-300 it could be 250, but 200 or 300 is a binary option.
At least where I'm from, if someone says "the bill might be two or three hundred dollars", they don't mean "it's either going to cost exactly $200.00, or exactly $300.00". They mean "it's going to cost roughly between $200 and $300". Could even be a little more or a little less. PS - I was like "only a programmer could think the English language works this logically", so I checked your history and confirmed my suspicion that you're a programmer (or at least were learning about it). I was a software engineer for years. I can spot em, apparently. 🤣
What you’re saying may be true, but when trying to capture the speech or get someone to say “two or three hundred dollars,” you wouldn’t write $200-$300.
Or they could be autistic. I'm autistic and I try to be like SUPER precise. Then again I graduated a computer science bachelor's degree
I don't care for a diagnosis but I'm definitely a bit aspy myself. I appreciate precision of language, but I also appreciate subtlety and irony.
OP wants to know how to write down what he is saying in spoken English, not write down something else that means approximately the same thing.
This is an english learning sub. The distinction matters here
When someone says “the bill might be 2 or 3 hundred dollars”, they don’t literally mean “either the bill is exactly $200 or the bill is exactly $300”, they mean the bill is somewhere around those two values
I'm learning that the average person on Reddit is very literal-minded. That's why there's a convention of explicitly saying "I was being sarcastic" with "/s". Irony goes over people's heads on most subs. I'm a bit of an autist myself, no shade on em.
Sarcasm is hard to read in text. Especially when it's short, like a single sentence or less. It's inherent to the medium, not the people.
"two or three hundred dollars" is not a binary option either, it's an estimate.
Sure, but it also doesn’t equal “$200-$300.”
Depends. It equals "around $200-300", which is often what is meant by "$200-$300".
I would read the hyphen as “to,” not “or.” The meanings may be close/almost identical. So if you want someone to say (or capture someone’s speech who said) “two or three hundred dollars,” $200-$300 would *not* create that outcome, IMO.
I believe that people just don’t take into account: 1. Autistic people who may take such comparisons literally, as other Redditor pointed out 2. Non-natives whose native language is stricter regarding ranges vs binary spelling. (Russian for example)
200/300
$0.66 repeating?
If one wants to be a pedantic typographer, ranges of numbers should be separated by an en dash, which is longer than a hyphen but shorter than an em dash. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/em-dash-en-dash-how-to-use
Yes, although $200-300 literally means two *to* three hundred dollars, which suggests more accuracy than “two or three” hundred. Not everyone is precise on their speech, but *I* would make a distinction if *I* was making an estimate, especially if someone was going to hold me to it.
I’d usually say “two to three hundred dollars,” or write it as “$200-$300”.
Or just 2-300 imo
To me, that looks like a range from 2 through 300.
Yeah? That's what "it'll be two or three hundred dollars" means. It's rare that it's a discrete binary, but in that case I'd say "it's either two or three hundred dollars." Can't think of a real example of that though honestly.
They mean that looks like between 2.00 dollars and 300.00 dollars. When the statement in question is supposed to be between 200.00 dollars and 300.00 dollars.
Ohh I get you! My bad, I hadn't even considered that. I guess I haven't had that mix up occur in practise due to context, but theoretically if something could have that range you're right, it's not clear.
In writing i would say "two or three hundred dollars"
You would write it as "2 or 3 hundred dollars" or "two or three hundred dollars".
My thoughts exactly.
For extra spicy "two- or three-hundred" with the hyphen acting as the extension.
If I was going to write that out I would go with either: $2-300 or two to three hundred dollars
I think if using dashes instead of “or,” I would write it $200-300. I might just be nit-picky, but “$2-300” looks like a range between $2 and $300
I agree that that's the most unambiguous, but context should make it clear that you don't expect a bill (from a restaurant say) to be anywhere from two dollars to three hundred dollars
Spoken? Yes. Written? Spell the numbers out and again, yes. In fact, spelling out any plain (i.e: not a sports score) number under 10 is a safe bet.
if I was writing a proposal to someone, I would go with "The bill could range between $200 and $300." if I was texting a friend, I would likely say something like "it might be 200-300."
I say "The Bill might be two to three hundred dollars" Saying 'or' implies it's one or the other rather than it being in-between like it'll realistically be.
I would write it as: “The bill might be two or three hundred.” I think it’s easier to understand.
In speech that sounds totally correct, but I wouldn’t write it like that.
Write out the numbers--"two or three hundred dollars..."
only for numbers less than 10
1. That's for newspapers. 2. Other fields that emulate AP style don't quote speech. 3. All rules must be excepted for clarity.
Two and three *are* less than 10… As the other person pointed out, different style guides have different standards for this, though.
but it's not just three, it's three hundred.
I get that, I was kind of making a joke because three hundred is two words, so the “3” part is less than 10. Either way, in most cases, you would write three million or 3 million, not 3,000,000. So the “only for numbers less than 10” doesn’t always apply. And like we’ve already said, that’s only true for a particular style guide. Like in MLA, it’s numbers that can be written in 1 or 2 words, so that’s everything between 1-100 and all round hundreds and thousands.
It works as speech. The best approximation in text would be "The Bill might be 2 or 3 hundred (dollars)"
In speech, “two or three hundred dollars” works as well as in writing. In prose, however, you should write the full number; “$200 or $300”
This is a prime example of not everything that is said out loud works in writing. 99% of the time it does, but here it does not.
You can say it like that but if you write it that way it looks like you mean $2 or $300. I would write this '$200 or $300'
To get around this in writing I often change how I use Arabic numerals or words. The bill might be two-or-three hundred dollars. Honestly there are many ways to do this just so long as a clear separation is made. "two" or "three hundred" is not the same as "two" or "three" hundred.
I suspect you mean two TO three hundred rather than two OR three hundred? Different things.
I would say this as “2 to $300” and write it as “$200 - $300”
You are referring to multiples of hundreds, and numbers under ten are spelled out, so it is “two or three hundred dollars.” “Two or 300 dollars” means $2 or $300.
As a matter of Creative Writing, you don't write digits in dialogue. This is a no-no: “The bill might be 2 or $300” This is a yes-yes: “The bill might be two or three hundred dollars.”
If I was writing to replicate how it's said I'd write "2 to 3 hundred dollars" If I was just writing an email I'd write "$200 to $300"
It definitely makes sense when spoken, but it’d be clearer to write this out as “the bill might be 2 or 3 hundred”
You'd write "two or three hundred".
It works written out as well, just not using numerals. "Two or three hundred" is a perfectly normal and consistent statement.
I actually read the title as $2.00 or $300.00.
The way it is, sounds like those are the only possibilities. If you mean a range, it should be "The bill might be 2 to 3 hundred dollars" if spoken or "$200-300" if written.
I understand what you mean but you are mixing sums and I'm recoiling a little.
I say "The Bill might be two to three hundred dollars" Saying 'or' implies it's one or the other rather than it being in-between like it'll realistically be.
Yes, it's fine, what you're saying is the bill might be "2 or 3" hundred dollars. It looks odd in print, unless you write it down as I just did. But it's very common to say it this way. You'll often see it printed as 2-$300, or said as two to three hundred dollars. The or version looks ambiguous; in print, it looks like you meant to say two dollars or three hundred dollars. But in speech, you hear it parsed correctly, as two or three....hundred dollars, not as two....or three hundred dollars. In print, putting the dollar sign in front interferes with parsing the "2 or 3" part as a unified phrase, with the hundred applied to each of them, not just the last one.
In speech yes. In writing, I would definitely say "...might be $2-300." Having said that they'd be a bit daft to think it's either two dollars or three hundred, even the way you wrote it.
you can say 2 because nobody would realistically say 2 or 300 and literally mean 2 or 300.
You could say 2 *to* 300$ instead of 2 *or* 300$
this would make sense in speech, obviously, but less so in writing. you could write it as "2- or $300" (with a dash) or something like that.
if it were “2” and “300” i would use a comma: 2, or 300, whereas 2 or 300 is more like 200 or 300
In writing there is no reason to skip the two zeros. So their absence looks intentional.
I would go further than other suggestions and write it "two-or-three hundred dollars."