Talking about measurements

2.267 You can refer to a size, distance, area, volume, weight, speed, or temperature by using a number or quantifier in front of a measurement noun. Measurement nouns are countable.

They grow to twenty feet.

...blocks of stone weighing up to a hundred tons.

Reduce the temperature by a few degrees.

Average annual temperatures exceed 20 centigrade.

Other ways of expressing distance are explained in paragraphs 6.71 to 6.72. Measurement nouns referring to size, area, volume, and weight are often used in partitive structures (see paragraphs 2.211 to 2.224) such as 'a pint of milk' and 'a pound of onions'. They can also be used as qualifiers beginning with 'of' (see paragraph 2.300).

2.268 There are two systems of measurement used in Britain—the imperial system and the metric system. Each system has its own measurement nouns.

Here is a list of the imperial units of measurement indicating size, distance, area, volume, and weight:

inch foot yard mile

~ acre ~ pint

quart gallon ~ ounce

pound stone hundredweight ton

Note that the plural of 'foot' is 'feet', but 'foot' can also be used with numbers. Similarly 'stone' is often used instead of 'stones'.

Here is a list of the metric units of measurement indicating size, distance, area, volume, and weight:

millimetre centimetre metre

kilometre ~ hectare

~ millilitre centilitre

litre ~ milligram

gram kilogram tonne

2.269 Measurement nouns are often used as the complements of link verbs such as 'be', 'measure' and 'weigh'.

The fish was about eight feet long.

It measures approximately 26 inches wide x 25 inches long.

...a square area measuring 900 metres on each side.

It weighs fifty or more kilos.

The use of adjectives as the complements of link verbs is explained in paragraphs 3.133 to 3.138.

adjectives after measurements 2.270 When measurement nouns that give the size of something are used as complements, they can often be followed by an adjective which makes it clear exactly what the measurement refers to.

He was about six feet tall.

The spears were about six foot long.

...a room 2 metres wide.

The water was fifteen feet deep.

...a layer of stone four metres thick.

Here is a list of the adjectives that follow measurement nouns indicating size:

broad deep

high long

tall thick

wide

Note that you do not say 'two pounds heavy' but 'two pounds in weight' instead.

prepositional phrases after measurements 2.271 Similarly, some measurement nouns can be followed by prepositional phrases beginning with 'in'.

...a block of ice one cubic foot in size.

I put on nearly a stone in weight.

They are thirty centimetres in length.

...deposits measuring up to a kilometre in thickness.

It was close on ten feet in height.

Here is a list of prepositional phrases used after measurements:

in area in depth in distance

in height in length in size

in thickness in volume in weight

in width

measurement nouns used as modifiers 2.272 Measurement nouns can also be used as modifiers in front of a noun when you want to describe things in terms of their measurements.

...a 5 foot 9 inch bed.

...70 foot high mounds of dust.

...12 x 12 inch tiles.

...a five-pound bag of lentils.

Note that the measurement noun is singular.

USAGE NOTE 2.273 If you want to describe fully the size of an object or area, you can give its dimensions: that is, you give measurements of its length and width, or length, width, and depth. When you give the dimensions of an object, you separate the figures using 'and', 'by', or the multiplication sign 'x'.

...planks of wood about three inches thick and two feet wide.

The island measures about 25 miles by 12 miles.

Lake Nyasa is 450 miles long by about 50 miles wide.

The box measures approximately 26 inches wide x 25 inches deep x 16 inches high.

inches nigh.

If you are talking about a square object or area, you give the length of each side followed by the word 'square'.

Each family has only one room eight or ten feet square.

The site measures roughly 35 feet square.

'Square' is used in front of units of length when expressing area. 'Cubic' is used in front of units of length when expressing volume.

...a farm covering 300 square miles.

The brain of the first ape-men had been about the same size as that of a gorilla, a round 500 cubic centimetres.

You express temperature in degrees, using either degrees centigrade or degrees Fahrenheit. Note that in everyday language the metric term centigrade is used to indicate temperature, whereas in scientific language the term 'Celsius' is used which refers to exactly the same scale of measurement.

2.274 You talk about the speed of something by saying how far it can travel in a particular unit of time. To do this, you use a noun such as 'mile' or 'kilometre', followed by 'per', 'a', or 'an', and a time noun.

The car could do only forty-five miles per hour.

Wind speeds at the airport were 160 kilometres per hour.

Warships move al about 500 miles per day.