Lesson 2 of 11 · 7 min
Currency pairs and quotes
How to read a price like EUR/USD 1.0850 and know exactly what you are buying and selling.
By the end you'll be able to
- Identify the base and quote currency in any pair
- Read a quote and say what one unit of the base currency costs
- Decide whether to buy or sell a pair to express a view
Free course
Enrol in “Forex Foundations” to start this lesson
Enrolling is free. Your progress, quiz scores and certificate are kept in your account, on every device.
- 11 short lessons with quizzes and interactive tools
- Lesson videos for members
- A certificate when you finish
A friend says “the euro is at 1.08”. At 1.08 what? Every forex price is a comparison between two currencies, and reading it correctly is the first skill.
Currencies always come in pairs
EUR is the base currency: the one you are buying or selling. The price is always for one unit of it.
Tap a part of the quote to see what it means.
You can’t buy a euro with nothing. You buy it with something, usually dollars. So forex prices are written as pairs:
- The first currency is the base currency. The price is always for one unit of it.
- The second is the quote currency. The price is expressed in it.
EUR/USD = 1.0850 means one euro costs 1.0850 US dollars.
Buying and selling a pair
When you buy EUR/USD, you buy euros and pay in dollars. You want the number to go up (each euro worth more dollars). When you sell EUR/USD, you sell euros for dollars and want the number to go down.
A simple rule: your view is always about the base currency. Bullish on the base, buy the pair. Bearish on the base, sell it.
The main pairs
| Group | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Majors | EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, USD/CHF | Always include USD; most traded, tightest costs |
| Commodity pairs | AUD/USD, USD/CAD, NZD/USD | Linked to exporting economies |
| Crosses | EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY | No USD; often wider costs, bigger swings |
Try it
JPY is the quote currency. The price says how much JPY one USD costs. Profits and losses are counted in JPY first.
Here the dollar is the base and the yen is the quote. One dollar costs about 150 yen.
Notice how the pair is read the same way whichever currencies are in it: the price is always what one unit of the first currency costs in the second.
Quick check
Question 1 of 3
In GBP/USD = 1.2700, what does the number mean?
Question 2 of 3
You think the Japanese yen will strengthen against the dollar. Which trade expresses that?
Question 3 of 3
Which of these is a cross pair?
Go deeper: Base Currency vs Quote Currency: How to Read Any Forex Pair · Best Currency Pairs for Beginners · EUR/GBP Trading Guide: How to Trade the Euro–Pound Cross · How to Read a Forex Quote · Long vs Short in Forex: What Buying and Selling Really Means · Major, Minor and Exotic Currency Pairs: What’s the Difference?