Key takeaways
- Write the whole amount, then the fils or halalas, and end with "only" so nothing can be added.
- If the words and the figures differ, the words usually decide the amount, and many banks will return the cheque.
- In Arabic, the currency name changes with the number: درهم واحد, درهمان, خمسة دراهم, أحد عشر درهماً, مائة درهم.
- Before a noun, ألفان and مائتان lose their final nūn: ألفا درهم, مائتا ريال.
On this page
The English format
Write the amount in full, the currency, the sub-unit, and "only": One thousand five hundred UAE dirhams and fifty fils only. Start at the far left of the line and draw a line through any space left over. British and Gulf banks use "and" after hundreds (one hundred and five); American cheques usually leave it out and write cents as a fraction, such as "One hundred five and 50/100".
The Arabic format
Gulf cheques usually start with فقط ("only") and end with لا غير ("nothing more"): فقط ألف وخمسمائة درهم وخمسون فلساً لا غير. The tricky part is that the currency name agrees with the number.
| Amount | Rule | Arabic |
|---|---|---|
| AED 1 | The noun comes first, then واحد | درهم واحد |
| AED 2 | The dual form, without a number | درهمان |
| AED 5 | 3 to 10 take the plural | خمسة دراهم |
| AED 25 | 11 to 99 take the singular with tanwīn | خمسة وعشرون درهماً |
| AED 100 | Hundreds and thousands take the singular | مائة درهم |
| AED 2,000 | ألفان loses its nūn before the noun | ألفا درهم |
| AED 3,000 | 3 to 10 thousands use آلاف | ثلاثة آلاف درهم |
| SAR 75.25 | هللة is feminine, so the number changes too | خمسة وسبعون ريالاً وخمس وعشرون هللة |
Three decimals in Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman
The Kuwaiti and Bahraini dinar divide into 1,000 fils and the Omani rial into 1,000 baisa, so amounts have three decimals. KWD 10.003 is "Ten Kuwaiti dinars and three fils only", فقط عشرة دنانير وثلاثة فلوس لا غير.
Mistakes that get cheques returned
- Words and figures that do not match, often because of a missing zero or the wrong number of fils.
- Space left before or after the words, which someone could fill in.
- Corrections or crossings-out on the amount. Write a new cheque instead.
- Mixing up similar words, such as fifteen and fifty, or سبعة and تسعة.
The amount in words tool writes both versions at once. Type the figure, choose the currency and copy the wording. Always read it back before you sign.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Chequeen.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia: Arabic grammar (numerals)en.wikipedia.org
Fact-checked against the sources above. We test every tool we mention. Editorial policy.
