"5.8 Yuan"

Translation: 五元八角

[Janus159341]

This could also be written 五元八毛 or 五块八毛钱.

[Keith_APP]

五元八毛 is using terms from different sets (formal / familiar) and is not completely natural.

[David.A.Weldon]

I think you are right. But 五块八毛 is a construction I hear often.

[RachelHe8]

It sounds better like it

[XiangyuWang]

五块八 is way more natural and common.

[Riven333]

Can the Duolingo team give some kind of indication/hint that they're looking for the formal versions? Like " 5.8 Yuan (formal)"? I know it says in the learning notes that they're teaching the more formal versions in this module, but if you cycle through lessons because you are trying to emulate Spaced Repetition Learning it would be nice to have a hint rather than have to open the lesson up each time (and thereby negate forcing yourself to recall from memory).

[clintack]

What's the difference between "五元八角" and "五块八毛"?

Is it just formality?

[Riven333]

My understanding is it is analogous to the English use of "dollar/bucks" Just another way of saying the same thing, but more/less formality. But I think on the change side of it, Chinese has both a more & less formal version for what equates to "cents," wheres "cents" seems to fill both roles (i.e. not unusual to hear "five dollars and twenty-six cents" or "five bucks and twenty-six cents")

Also, it never occurred to me until this very moment that term "cents" is probably coming from the fact that it is 1/100th (or a perCENT) of a dollar... I feel embarrassed and need to sit down...

[Keith_APP]

Hi Jonathan, 块 is familiar but not as much as "bucks". It is pretty alright to say it even at an upscale department store.
The equivalent of cents is 分 fen¹; In Hong Kong 仙 xian¹ is also used (sound analogue of "cents"). As the value is too small (both in Renminbi and in Hong Kong dollars), circulation of their notes and coins have dried up. So no worries. :)