Cheque Amount in Words Writer
Enter an amount and get the legal amount-in-words line to write on a cheque — in English (“One thousand two hundred thirty-four and 56/100 dollars”) and in Quebec French (“mille deux cent trente-quatre et 56/100 dollars”), with the awkward French number rules for 70-99 handled properly.
English — cheque line
One thousand two hundred thirty-four and 56/100 dollars
Fully spelled out
One thousand two hundred thirty-four dollars and fifty-six cents
Français (QC) — montant en lettres
mille deux cent trente-quatre et 56/100 dollars
Tout en lettres
mille deux cent trente-quatre dollars et cinquante-six cents
How it looks on the cheque(English)
A generic illustration of cheque layout — not a real or printable bank cheque, and not affiliated with any financial institution. Always write on your own bank's cheque stock in ink.
Breakdown
Dollars
1,234
Cents
56/100
Amount box (numeric)
1,234.56
The French numbers that trip everyone upsoixante-dix, quatre-vingts, quatre-vingt-dix — and the plural -s rules
| Number | Correct French | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | soixante-dix | 60 + 10, not a word of its own |
| 71 | soixante et onze | takes “et” — the last one that does |
| 80 | quatre-vingts | 4 × 20, plural -s because nothing follows |
| 81 | quatre-vingt-un | no “et”, and “vingt” loses its -s |
| 90 | quatre-vingt-dix | 4 × 20 + 10 |
| 91 | quatre-vingt-onze | “onze”, not “et onze” |
| 99 | quatre-vingt-dix-neuf | 4 × 20 + 19 |
| 200 | deux cents | “cent” multiplied and final → plural |
| 201 | deux cent un | “cent” multiplied but followed → singular |
| 1 000 | mille | “mille” is invariable and never “un mille” |
| 80 000 | quatre-vingt mille | no -s: “mille” follows it |
| 2 000 000 | deux millions | “million” is a noun, so it does take -s |
Every row above is generated live by this tool, not hard-coded — so you can see the engine handling the vigesimal forms and the vingt/cent agreement rules correctly.
Runs entirely in your browser. No amount, payee or memo you type is ever sent to a server.
Why French cheque amounts break most converters
French counts in twenties above 69. Seventy is soixante-dix (60 + 10), eighty is quatre-vingts (4 × 20), ninety is quatre-vingt-dix (4 × 20 + 10). A number-to-words routine written for English produces “septante” or “quatre-vingt-dix-un” and both are wrong for Canadian French. On top of the vigesimal forms there are three agreement rules that decide whether a letter is there at all:
- “et” joins 21, 31, 41, 51, 61 and 71 — vingt et un, soixante et onze — but never 81 or 91, which are quatre-vingt-un and quatre-vingt-onze.
- “vingt” and “cent” take a plural -s only when multiplied AND final. 80 is quatre-vingts but 81 is quatre-vingt-un; 200 is deux cents but 201 is deux cent un. Before the nouns million and milliard the -s comes back: quatre-vingts millions, deux cents millions.
- “mille” is invariable and is never preceded by un — 1000 is mille, not un mille, and 2000 is deux mille with no -s.
This tool implements all of it, and the reference table inside the tool is generated live by the same engine so you can check its work. The 1990 rectified spelling (which hyphenates every element, giving vingt-et-un and mille-deux-cent-trente-quatre) is available as a toggle; both forms are accepted by the Office québécois de la langue française, and the traditional form is still what most Quebec banks and legal documents use.
The English rule people get wrong
On a cheque, “and” stands in for the decimal point and nothing else. $142.00 is written “One hundred forty-two and 00/100”, never “One hundred and forty-two”. Cents are written as a fraction over 100 rather than spelled out, tens and units are hyphenated (thirty-four, ninety-nine), and you rule a line from the end of your words to the pre-printed word DOLLARS so nothing can be added after them.
Häufig gestellte Fragen
How do you write a check amount in words?
Write the dollars in words, then the word "and", then the cents as a fraction over 100. $1,234.56 becomes "One thousand two hundred thirty-four and 56/100". Capitalize the first letter, hyphenate compound numbers (thirty-four, ninety-nine), and don't put "and" anywhere inside the number itself - on a cheque the only "and" replaces the decimal point. Finish by drawing a line from the last word to the pre-printed word DOLLARS so no one can add to it.
Comment écrire le montant en lettres pour un chèque au Québec ?
On écrit les dollars en toutes lettres, puis « et », puis les cents en chiffres sur 100 : « mille deux cent trente-quatre et 56/100 dollars ». Les cents peuvent aussi s'écrire en toutes lettres (« et cinquante-six cents »). Attention aux nombres de 70 à 99, qui suivent la logique vicésimale : soixante-dix, soixante et onze, quatre-vingts, quatre-vingt-un, quatre-vingt-dix, quatre-vingt-onze. « Mille » est invariable, et « vingt » et « cent » ne prennent le -s que s'ils sont multipliés et qu'ils terminent le nombre.
Do I write the cents as a fraction or spell them out?
The fraction form (56/100) is the banking standard and is what this tool shows first, because digits over 100 are much harder to alter than words. Spelling everything out ("and fifty-six cents") is also perfectly valid and is normal in contracts, promissory notes and legal agreements - so the tool gives you both versions with separate copy buttons.
What do I write if the amount has no cents?
Write "00/100" rather than leaving it blank - "Fifty-five and 00/100". Some people write "and no/100" or "and xx/100" instead, which banks also accept. What you should never do is leave empty space after the words, because that's where an extra digit or word can be inserted. Ticking the "only" / "seulement" option adds a closing word for the same reason.
What happens if the words and the numbers on my cheque disagree?
The written words legally govern. Under bills-of-exchange rules in both Canada and the US, if the amount in words differs from the amount in figures, the amount in words is the amount payable - which is exactly why the words line exists and why it's worth getting the spelling right. In practice many banks will simply return a cheque whose amounts don't match, so double-check both before signing.
Is this cheque amount converter free, and is my data private?
Yes to both. There's no sign-up and no limit, and every calculation - the English words, the French words and the preview - runs as plain JavaScript inside your browser. The amount, payee and memo you type are never uploaded anywhere. The cheque graphic is a generic illustration of cheque layout for checking your wording; it isn't a printable cheque and isn't affiliated with any bank.