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The word '''penny''' (a small coin) has two plural forms.  One, '''pennies''', is regular.  The other is not - '''pence'''.  As a rule of thumb, use the latter when you are giving a precise cost.  When you are talking about the coins in general, use '''pennies''' - e.g. "I have a pocket full of '''pennies'''" but "The postage is twenty '''pence'''."

The position is sometimes complicated by the usages of those who learnt to handle money before the change to decimal coinage (see [[Pounds, shillings and pence]]).  The use of an apparently singular form ('''penny''') to express [[plural]] meanings can cause confusion. In such cases a number of pence (for example, a price) was expressed by the number followed by '''-penny''', as a [[suffix]], which formed an apparent [[noun]] acting as an [[epithet|adjective]]. The pre-decimal coin worth three (old) pence (valued at just over 1p in modern terms ("one New Penny")) was called a '''threepenny''', pronounced (and sometimes written) as 'thruppenny' (in the North of England).  The price was usually pronounced 'thruppence'.  We also had things, be they ice creams, bus rides or cinema tickets called '''tuppenny''' (more formally '''twopenny'''), and in derogatory mood we could call something '''tuppenny-halfpenny''', meaning 'very cheap'.  The halfpenny itself was sometimes written '''ha'penny''', and pronounced 'HAY-p'ny', {{IPA|ˈheɪ p<sup>ə</sup>nɪ}}.  
**The [[surname]] '''Halfpenny''', as borne by among others the current (2015) full back in the Welsh Rugby Union team Leigh Halfpenny. is pronounced like the numeral 'half: 'HAHF-pen-y', {{IPA|ˈhɑːf pɛn ɪ}}.

In slang, if a man gave another a '''fourpenny one''', it meant 'hit him very hard'.  There has not been a fourpenny coin for a long time.  In the olden days, there was one, called a '''groat'''; it was not issued after 1662, although a fourpenny coin (not called a groat) was issued from 1836 to 1856. (A fourpenny piece still forms part of the ceremonial [[Maundy money]].)

You may also want to see [[Pounds, shillings and pence]], which outlines the traditional British currency.



[[Category:UK culture]] 
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[[category:UK currency]]
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