Greetings, dear readers! Very often in films we hear about inches, yards, miles, acres. Almost every day the news says that a barrel of oil has risen in price by so many dollars. And if we imagine how much this is approximately in rubles, then we have no idea exactly how much oil in liters. Therefore, knowing the units of measurement in the USA, Canada and England is necessary not only for students of English, but will also be useful for general development each to represent what is being said in the news, literature or movies.
English units of measurementEnglish units and measures of length, weight, volume, area, mass and other indicators are very different from those in Russian. Many of them, as I already said, you could have heard from movies, TV shows or news, or read in English literature. But in the USA and England, as well as in Australia and Canada, there are units of measurement that are not known to Russian speakers at all. For example, bushel, mil, rod, pepper and many others.
Sometimes it’s very difficult to navigate new material or interesting information on English language precisely because of ignorance of the meaning of some foreign measures. Therefore, in this article we will analyze in detail the units of measurement in English, find out their names, and approximately how much it will be if translated into familiar units of weight, length, speed, volume and distance.
The English measurement system is used not only in England and the USA, but also in other English-speaking countries. Great Britain, as a European country, has long adopted the decimal and metric system of measures, but the press and ordinary people are in no hurry to accept new system, and use the old one. The most common measures of length, weight and volume in English are barrel, foot, pint, acre, yard, inch and mile.
- 1 fluid ounce (fl. oz.) = 28.43 ml (cm³)
- 1 oz = 28.6 g
- Short ton = 907 kg
- Long ton = 1016.05 kg
- Barrel = 163.6 l
- Barrel of oil = 158.98 l
- 1 lb = 453.5 g
- 1 acre = 0.4 ha
- 1 yard = 0.9144 m
- 1 inch = 2.54 cm
- 1 pint = 507 ml
- 1 grain = 64.8 mg
This is only a small part of the units of measurement in English. In fact, there are more than a hundred of them. You won't be able to learn them all, but it would be nice to get acquainted with the most popular ones. After all, in newspapers, on radio and television, we regularly encounter these incomprehensible words, symbols and designations in English or their tracing paper in Russian.
Table of the most common English measurements
To make it easier for you to navigate each unit of measure, I divided them into categories, found their approximate values in our system, and placed them in a convenient table. This table can be downloaded and saved to your computer, or printed and hung in a visible place so that you can easily look into it if necessary.
Unit in English | In Russian | Approximate value |
Length & Areas |
||
| mile | mile | 1609 m |
| nautical mile | nautical mile | 1853 m |
| league | league | 4828.032 m |
| cable | cable | 185.3 m |
| yard | yard | 0.9144 m |
| pole, rod, perch | gender, gender, pepper | 5.0292 m |
| furlong | furlong | 201.16 m |
| mil | nice | 0.025 mm |
| line | line | 2.116 mm |
| hand | hand | 10.16 cm |
| chain | chain | 20.116 m |
| point | dot | 0.35 mm |
| inch | inch | 2.54 cm |
| foot | foot | 0.304 m |
| Square mile | Square mile | 258.99 ha |
| Square inch | Sq. inch | 6.4516 s m² |
| square yard | Sq. yard | 0.83 613 cm² |
| Square foot | Sq. foot | 929.03 cm² |
| Square rod | Sq. genus | 25.293 cm² |
| acre | acre | 4046.86 m² |
| rod | ore | 1011.71 m² |
Weight, Mass (Weight) |
||
| long tone | big ton | 907 kg |
| short tone | small ton | 1016 kg |
| chaldron | Cheldron | 2692.5 kg |
| pound | lb. | 453.59 g |
| ounce, oz | ounce | 28.349 g |
| quintal | quintal | 50.802 kg |
| short hundredweight | central | 45.36 kg |
| Hundredweight | Hundredweight | 50.8 kg |
| tod | tod | 12.7 kg |
| short quarter | quarter short | 11.34 kg |
| dram | drachma | 1.77 g |
| grain | gran | 64.8 mg |
| stone | stone | 6.35 kg |
Volume (Capacity) |
||
| barrel petroleum | barrel of oil | 158.97 l |
| barrel | barrel | 163.6 l |
| pint | pint | 0.57 l |
| bushel | bushel | 35.3 l |
| cubic yard | Cubic yard | 0.76 m³ |
| cubic feet | Cube foot | 0.02 m³ |
| cubic inch | Cube inch | 16.3 cm³ |
| liquid ounce | Fluid ounce | 28.4 ml |
| quart | quart | 1.136 l |
| gallon | gallon | 4.54 l |
| Melchizedek | Melchizedek | 30 l |
| Primat | Primate | 27 l |
| Balthazar | Belshazzar | 12 l |
| Methuselah | Methuselah | 6 l |
| Melchior | Cupronickel | 18 l |
| Jeroboam | Jeroboam | 3 l |
| Magnum | magnum | 1.5 l |
| Rehoboam | Rehoboam | 4.5 l |
Some indicators are given as approximate values. In printed form you can find abbreviations, but, more often than not, you can guess the full name from the abbreviations. To convert the desired unit into the lengths we need, meters, liters, and kilograms and other weight indicators, we can use rounding, division and multiplication.
If you are not going to live in the USA, Australia, England or Canada, then you can simply look at this table. But if you're going to work,
Despite the fact that the decimal number system (positional number system in integer base 10, one of the most common systems; it uses the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, called Arabic numerals ; it is assumed that base 10 is associated with the number of fingers on a person’s hands) is very common in modern life, and it is not uncommon to find English and American measures of calculation... The English system of measures is used in the USA, Myanmar and Liberia. Some of these measures in a number of countries differ somewhat in size, so below are mainly rounded metric equivalents of English measures, convenient for practical calculations.
Length measures
The variety and accuracy of modern measuring instruments is amazing. But what did our ancestors use in the absence of measuring instruments? To measure length, our ancestors used the measurements of their own body - fingers, elbows, steps...
One of the most common measures of length is the mile. The mile is used to measure the distance of air and land routes.
mile(from Latin mille passuum - a thousand double steps of Roman soldiers in full armor on the march) - a travel measure for measuring distance, introduced in Ancient Rome. The mile was used in a number of countries in antiquity, as well as in many modern countries before the introduction of the metric system. In countries with a non-metric system of measures, the mile is still used today. The mileage varies from country to country and ranges from 0.58 km(Egypt) to 11.3 km(old Norwegian mile). Back in the 18th century, Europe had 46 different units of measurement called miles.
British and American (statutory) mile = 8 furlongs = 1760 yards = 5280 feet = 1609.34 meters (160934.4 centimeters).
This unit of length is now commonly used in the United States to measure road length and speed.
Nautical mile- a unit of distance used in navigation and aviation.
According to the modern definition, adopted at the International Hydrographic Conference in Monaco in 1929, the International Nautical Mile is equal to exactly 1852 meters. The nautical mile is not an SI unit, however, according to the decision of the General Conference on Weights and Measures, its use is permitted, although not recommended. There is no generally accepted designation; Sometimes the abbreviations "NM", "nm" or "nmi" are used. nautical mile). It should be noted that the abbreviation “nm” coincides with the officially accepted designation of nanometer.
International nautical mile = 10 cables = 1/3 sea league
UK nautical mile before the transition to the international system (before 1970) = 1853.184 meters.
US nautical mile before the transition to the international system (before 1955) = 1853,248 meters or 6080.20 feet.
Foot(Russian designation: foot; international: ft, as well as ‘ - stroke; from English foot - foot) - a unit of length in the English system of measures. The exact linear value varies from country to country. In 1958, at a conference of English-speaking countries, participating countries unified their units of length and mass. The resulting “international” foot began to equal exactly 0.3048 m. This is what is most often meant by “foot” nowadays.
Inch(Russian designation: inch; international: inch, in or ″ - double stroke; from Dutch duim - thumb) - not metric unit measurements of distance and length in some systems of measures. Currently, the inch usually means the English inch used in the USA, equal to 25.4 mm.
Yard(English yard) - British and American unit of measurement of distance. Nowadays a metric yard is equal to three metric feet ( 36 inches) or 91.44 cm. Not included in the SI system. There are several versions of the origin of the name and size of the yard. A large measure of length, called the yard, was introduced by the English king Edgar (959-975) and was equal to the distance from the tip of His Majesty's nose to the tip of the middle finger of his outstretched hand. As soon as the monarch changed, the yard became different - it lengthened, since the new king was of a larger build than his predecessor. Then, on the next change of king, the yard became shorter again. Such frequent changes in the unit of length created confusion. According to other versions, a yard is the circumference of the monarch's waist or the length of his sword. King Henry I (1100-1135) legalized a permanent yard in 1101 and ordered a standard to be made from elm. This yard is still used in England (its length is 0.9144 m). The yard was divided into 2, 4, 8 and 16 parts, called respectively half-yard, span, finger and nail.
Line- a unit of distance measurement in Russian, English (English line) and some other systems of measures. The name came into Russian through Polish. linea or germ. Line from lat. līnea - linen twine; the strip drawn by this string. In the English system of measures, 1 line (“small”) = 1⁄12 inch = 2.11666666… mm. This unit was rarely used, since the technique used tenths, hundredths and thousandths (“mils”) of an inch. Measurements in biology and typography used this unit, abbreviating it as "(outside these areas, the line was designated as "', and " was and is used to denote the inch). The (large) lines measure the caliber of the weapon.
League(English League) - British and American unit of distance measurement.
1 league = 3 miles = 24 furlongs = 4828.032 meters.
The league value has long been used in naval battles to determine the distance of a cannon shot. Later it began to be used for land and postal affairs.
Measures of liquid and granular bodies
Basic measures:
Barrel(English barrel - barrel) - a measure of the volume of bulk substances and liquids, equal to a “barrel”. Used to measure volume in economic calculations and in some countries.
To measure the volume of bulk solids there was a so-called “English barrel”: 1 English barrel = 4.5 bushels = 163.66 liters. IN USA A standard liquid barrel is 31.5 US gallons, that is: 1 US barrel = 31.5 US gallons = 119.2 liters = 1/2 hogshead.
However, when measuring beer volume (due to tax restrictions), the so-called standard beer barrel, which is equal 31 US gallon(117.3 liters).
Also used in the United States is a unit called "dry barrel"(dry barrel), which is equal to 105 dry quarts (115.6 liters).
For the most frequently used concept of a barrel in the world (namely, for oil), there is a special measure that is different from all of those listed (Oil Barrel).
1 Oil barrel = 158.987 liters. International designation: bbls.
Bushel(English bushel) - a unit of volume used in the English system of measures. Used for measuring bulk goods, mainly agricultural, but not liquids. Abbreviated as bsh. or bu.
In the British Imperial System of Measures for bulk solids: 1 bushel = 4 pecks = 8 gallons = 32 dry quarts = 64 dry pints = 1.032 US bushels = 2219.36 cubic inches = 36.36872 l (dm³) = 3 pails.
In the American system of measures for bulk solids: 1 bushel = 0.9689 English bushels = 35.2393 L; according to other sources: 1 bushel = 35.23907017 l = 9.309177489 US gallons.
In addition, a bushel is a container for storing and transporting apples. In international trade, a bushel typically refers to a box weighing 18 kg.
Gallon(English gallon) - a measure of volume in the English system of measures, corresponding to 3.79 to 4.55 liters (depending on the country of use). Typically used for liquids, in rare cases - for solids. The sub-multiple units of a gallon are the pint and the ounce. US gallon is equal to 3.785411784 liters. A gallon was originally defined as the volume of 8 pounds of wheat. Pint is a derivative of gallon - one eighth I'm part of it. Later, other varieties of the gallon were introduced for other products and, accordingly, new varieties of pints appeared. America adopted the British wine gallon, defined in 1707 as 231 cubic inches, as a basic measure of liquid volume. This is where the American liquid pint was developed. The British corn gallon was also adopted ( 268.8 cubic inches) as a measure of the volume of granular bodies. This is where the American dry pint comes from. In 1824, the British Parliament replaced all versions of the gallon with one imperial gallon, defined as 10 pounds of distilled water at 62°F ( 277.42 cubic inches).
The difference between the American gallon and the English gallon is:
- US gallon ≈ 3.785 liters;
- English gallon = 4.5461 liters.
In the US, the standard liquid barrel is 42 US gallons, that is: 1 US barrel = 42 US gallons = 159 liters = 1/2 hogshead. However, when measuring beer volume (due to tax restrictions), the US uses the so-called standard beer barrel, which is equal to 31 US gallons (117.3 liters).
Ounce(lat. uncia) - the name of several units of measurement of mass, as well as two measures of volume of liquid bodies, one unit of measurement of force and several monetary units formed as a twelfth of another unit. The term also comes from ancient Rome, where an ounce denoted a twelfth part of a libra. Was one of the main weight units medieval Europe. Today it is used when trading precious metals - the troy ounce, as well as in countries where weight is measured in pounds (for example, the USA). Quart(English quart from Latin quartus - quarter) - a unit of volume used in the USA, Great Britain and other countries to measure bulk or liquid volumes, equal to a quarter of a gallon.
- 1 quart = 2 pints = 1/4 gallon.
- 1 US dry quart = 1.1012209 liters.
- 1 US quart for liquids = 0.9463 liters.
- 1 imperial quart = 1.1365 l.
Area measures
Acre(English acre) - a land measure used in a number of countries with the English system of measures (for example, in the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and others). Originally it denoted the area of land cultivated per day by one peasant with one ox.
1 acre = 4 ore = 4046.86 m² ≈ 0.004 km² (1/250 km²) = 4840 square yards = 888.97 square fathoms = 0.37 dessiatines = 0.405 hectares = 40.46856 ar = 1/30 land yards = 1 /640 square miles
Township(English township - village, town) - an American unit of measurement of land area, which is a plot of land the size 6x6 miles = 36 sq. miles = 93.24 sq. km.
Hyde(English hide - plot, plot of land) - an ancient English land measure, originally equal to land plot, which could feed one family is 80-120 acres or 32.4-48.6 hectares.
Rude(English rood - piece of land) - land measure = 40 sq. gender = 1011.68 sq. m.
Ar(English are from Latin area - area, surface, agricultural land) - a land measure in the Anglo-American and metric system of measures, is a plot of land measuring 10x10 m and equals 100 sq. m or 0.01 hectares, in everyday life it is called “weaving”.
Cubic volume measures
Ton(English ton(ne), ton, tun from French tonne - large wooden barrel) - a unit of measurement for various purposes. Before the adoption of the metric system, the ton measure was widely used in Europe and America as a measure of the capacity of bulk and liquids, a measure of weight and a land measure. In the Anglo-American system of measures, a ton is:
1. Measure of cubic volume
- Register ton(register) - unit of measurement of the capacity of merchant ships = 100 cu. ft = 2.83 cu. m.
- Freight ton(freight) - unit of measurement of ship cargo - 40 cu. ft = 1.13 cu. m.
2. Trade weight measure
- Large ton(gross, long) = 2240 lbs = 1016 kg.
- Small ton(net, short) = 2000 lbs = 907.18 kg.
- Ton in metric system defined in 1000 kg or 2204.6 lbs.
3. Old English measure of liquid capacity(tun) (mainly for wine and beer) = 252 gallons = 1145.59 l.
Standard(English standard - norm) - a measure of the volume of lumber = 165 cc ft = 4.672 cu. m.
Cord(English cord from French corde - rope) - a measure of the volume of firewood and round timber. Big(gross) cord is equal to a stack of firewood 4x4x8ft =128 cu.m. ft = 3.624 cu. m. Small cord (short) for round timber = 126 cc ft = 3.568 cu. m.
Stack(English stack - heap, pile) - English measure of the volume of coal and firewood = 108 cu. ft = 3.04 cu. m.
Loud(English load - load, heaviness) - a measure of wood volume, equal for round timber 40 cu. feet or 1.12 cu. m; for lumber - 50 cu. feet or 1,416 cu.m. m.
Measures rarely used in everyday life
Barleycorn(eng. barleycorn - barley grain) length of barley grain = 1/3 inch = 8.47 mm.
Mil(English mil, abbreviated from mille - thousandth) - a unit of measurement of distance in the English system of measures, equal to 1⁄1000 inch. Used in electronics and to measure the diameter of thin wire, gaps or thickness of thin sheets. Also denoted as th.
1 mil = 1⁄1000 inch = 0.0254 mm = 25.4 micrometers
Hand(hand; English hand - “hand”) - a unit of measurement of length in the English system of measures. Used to measure the height of horses in some English-speaking countries, including Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was originally based on the breadth of the human hand. In English-speaking countries, abbreviations of this unit of measurement to “h” or “hh” are common.
hand = 4 inches = 10.16 cm.
Cheyne(ch) (English chain - chain) - an outdated British and American unit of distance measurement, equal to 20.1168 meters.
1 chain = 100 links = 1⁄10 furlong = 4 rods = 66 feet = 20.1168 meters
Furlong(Old English furh - furrow, rut, etc. long - long) - British and American unit of distance measurement.
1 furlong = ⅛ mile = 10 chains = 220 yards = 40 rods = 660 feet = 1000 links = 201.16 m.
5 furlongs are approximately equal to 1.0058 km.
The furlong is currently used as a unit of distance in horse racing in the UK, Ireland and the USA.
Hand(English hand - hand) - a measure of length, initially equal to the width of the palm, is 4 inches or 10.16 cm. Horses' height is usually measured using the palm of their hand.
Fathom(fathom) (English fathom from Anglo-Saxon fǽthm from German faden - to grasp) - a measure of length, initially equal to the distance between the ends of the fingers of outstretched hands and amounts to 6 feet or 1.83 m. This measure is used mainly in maritime affairs to determine the depth of water and in mountain (mine) measurements.
El(English ell from Swedish aln - cubit) - an old English measure of length, perhaps originally equal to length whole hand, contains 45 inches or 1.14 m, was used to measure fabrics.
Qubit(English cubit from Latin cubitus - elbow) - an old English measure of length, originally equal to the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger of the outstretched hand, contains from 18
before 22 inches or 46-56 cm.
Span(English span) - a measure of length, initially equal to the distance between the ends of the thumb and little finger, stretched in the plane of the hand, is 9 inches or 22.86 cm.
Link(English link - chain link) - a measure of length used in geodetic and construction work: 1 geodetic link = 7.92 inches = 20.12 cm; 1 construction link = 1 foot = 30.48 cm.
Finger(English finger - finger) - a measure of length equal to the length of the middle finger, contains 4.5 inches or 11.43 cm. To determine the depth of water, a measure equal to the width of a finger is used, containing 3/4 inch or 1.91 cm.
Neil(English nail - needle) - an ancient measure of length for fabrics, equal to 2 1/4 inches or 5.71 cm.
Cable(English cable’s length from the Gol. kabeltouw - sea rope) - a marine measure of length, initially equal to the length of the anchor rope. In international maritime practice, cable lengths are 0.1 nautical mile and is equal 185.2 m. IN England 1 cable contains 680 feet and equals 183 m. IN USA 1 cable contains 720 feet and equals 219.5 m.
Table of the most common English measurements
For convenience, the main English measurements are summarized in a table.
|
Unit in English |
In Russian |
Approximate value |
|
Length & Areas |
||
| mile | 1609 m | |
| nautical mile | nautical mile | 1853m |
| league | league | 4828.032 m |
| cable | cable | 185.3 m |
| yard | yard | 0.9144 m |
| pole, rod, perch | gender, gender, pepper | 5.0292 m |
| furlong | furlong | 201.16 m |
| mil | nice | 0.025 mm |
| line | line | 2.116 mm |
| hand | hand | 10.16 cm |
| chain | chain | 20.116 m |
| point | dot | 0.35 mm |
| inch | inch | 2.54 cm |
| foot | foot | 0.304 m |
| Square mile | Square mile | 258.99 ha |
| Square inch | Sq. inch | 6.4516 s m² |
| square yard | Sq. yard | 0.83613 cm² |
| Square foot | Sq. foot | 929.03 cm² |
| Square rod | Sq. genus | 25.293 cm² |
| acre | acre | 4046.86 m² |
| rod | ore | 1011.71 m² |
|
Weight, Mass (Weight) |
||
| long tone | big ton | 907 kg |
| short tone | small ton | 1016 kg |
| chaldron | Cheldron | 2692.5 kg |
| pound | lb. | 453.59 g |
| ounce, oz | ounce | 28.349 g |
| quintal | quintal | 50.802 kg |
| short hundredweight | central | 45.36 kg |
| Hundredweight | Hundredweight | 50.8 kg |
| tod | tod | 12.7 kg |
| short quarter | quarter short | 11.34 kg |
| dram | drachma | 1.77 g |
| grain | gran | 64.8 mg |
| stone | stone | 6.35 kg |
|
Volume (Capacity) |
||
| barrel petroleum | barrel of oil | 158.97 l |
| barrel | barrel | 163.6 l |
| pint | pint | 0.57 l |
| bushel | bushel | 35.3 l |
| cubic yard | Cubic yard | 0.76 m³ |
| cubic feet | Cube foot | 0.02 m³ |
| cubic inch | Cube inch | 16.3 cm³ |
| liquid ounce | Fluid ounce | 28.4 ml |
| quart | quart | 1.136 l |
| gallon | gallon | 4.54 l |
| Melchizedek | Melchizedek | 30 l |
| Primat | Primate | 27 l |
| Balthazar | Belshazzar | 12 l |
| Methuselah | Methuselah | 6 l |
| Melchior | Cupronickel | 18 l |
| Jeroboam | Jeroboam | 3 l |
| Magnum | magnum | 1.5 l |
| Rehoboam | Rehoboam | 4.5 l |
In addition to the metric system of measures, the English language uses its own methods of measuring length, weight and volume. Mostly, English units of measurement are used in the domestic market, and some are gradually falling out of use. Until 1971, the shilling was used as a monetary unit, which was part of the pound sterling in the amount of 20 units. In turn, there were 12 pence in a shilling. It is easy to calculate that there were 240 pence in a pound. The two shilling coin was called a florin.
The use of such a monetary unit in international payments caused serious difficulties, so in 1971 the good old shilling went into oblivion, and the number of pence in a shilling was reduced to one hundred. Other units of measurement in English have been preserved, and many of them are still used today, and the American barrel is used when trading oil on the international market. These words need to be learned, since you will encounter them either in texts when studying English, or you will encounter them when communicating with native speakers.
The English system of measures was developed in “pre-metric” times, and any parts of the body, containers or available materials were used as a “standard”. For example,
- Inch was the average width of a man's thumb
- Foot was equal to the average length of an adult human foot
- Stone was equal to the weight of a stone of a certain size
- Barrel (barrel, barrel) was the volume of a standard barrel.
In many countries and in Great Britain itself, various standards were invented, but after the revolution that metric system measures, all traditional measures began to be tied to it.
Length in English
Each English measure of length has its own history of origin and these units are interconnected:
- Point (0.3528mm)- a point approximately equal to the width of the point that we put on the letter
- Line(2.1mm)- line (6 points), which is close to the traditional 2 millimeters
- Inch(2.54cm)- inch. Approximately half the length of a matchbox.
- Foot(30.48cm)- ft. A little less than a third of a meter.
- Yard (0.9144m)- yard Doesn't reach a meter, about 8 centimeters.
- Furlong (201, 171m)- furlong. Close to 200 meters.
- Mile(1.6093 km)- “land” mile. Very close to 1600 meters.
- Naut mile(1.832km)- nautical mile. More than a simple mile by almost 231 meters.
How is volume measured?
This measure is necessary for measuring liquid or bulk products. The volume of solids is usually measured in square inches, feet and yards. An interesting measure of volume is measured by stacks. This English unit of volume is equal to four cubic yards.
To measure granular and liquid substances, the following measures are used:
- Butt- slightly less than 500 l, namely 490.97 l
- Barrel- British barrel 163.65 is much larger than American 119.2 l (US)
- Barrel for oil trading in the UK it is 158.988 l, and in the USA it differs by only 0.018 l (158.97 l)
- Gallon- here the difference is much higher: 4.546 liters in the UK versus 3.784 liters in the USA
- Pint- a British pint is almost 100 ml larger than an American one (0.57 l versus 0.473 l)
- Fluid ounce- there is unanimity here (28.4 ml)
- A quart is equal to 1.136 liters
- Bushel has a volume of 36.37 liters
How is weight measured?
We list the weight measures in English and Russian:
- 1. Ounce (ounce) slightly less than 30 g (28.35 g)
- 2. Pound as an English unit of weight (pound) equal to 453.59 g, which is almost 47 g less than half a kilogram
- 3. Stone, used mostly in America is 6.35 kg
- 4. Short ton is equal to 907.18 kg, and if you are interested, trace its history on the Internet
- 5. Long ton very close to a metric ton and equal to 1016 kg
In fact, there are many more traditional English measures of measurement; we have touched only on the most popular ones.
Lim English also recommends that you pay attention to the English measure of counting - dozen (dozen). It was once used in Russia, but gradually fell out of use. Also interesting is the unit of time measurement fortnight (14 days).
On the site you will learn to distinguish between metric and traditional English and American units of measurement. You will also be able to compare their meaning. The most important thing is that when traveling abroad, the mention of a pint or a gallon will not take you by surprise!
no commentsConversion tables for feet and inches to centimeters (height) and pounds to kilograms (weight).
Hello, my dear readers! We all know the “golden rule” of an Internet shopaholic:
“Carefully study the reviews of a new brand or product before you buy it!”
How often have you seen reviews like this:
"I'm 5′ 8″ 180 and the large was huge on me, the length is above the ankles but well below the knee. I’ve always had a small waist for my size even after gaining 25lbs over the..."
« I'm a very large woman ( 5'6″ tall and 260lbs. Size 48DDD chest. I wanted a long dress that was basic and comfy vs a “moo-moo” This thing fit the bill. Of… «
“I bought one in every color! I am petite ( 5′ 2″) and I like that it comes right across the tops of my feet! Pairs perfectly with..."
What do these numbers, unusual for the Belarusian eye, mean? Just height and weight (yes, not parameters (90-60-90), as is customary here, but weight).
To measure length, Americans use feet And inches, and for measuring weight - pounds. So, the first review given as an example was written by a person with a height of 173 cm and a weight of 82 kg (5′ 8″ 180).
If you, like me, do not like to study reviews of happy and not so American customers with a calculator in hand, then here is a nice table for converting feet and inches to centimeters to help us all:
If you need a different length that does not fit in the table, you will still have to arm yourself with a calculator:
1 Foot = 30.48 cm
1 Inch = 2.54 cm
I still haven’t learned how to navigate clothing sizes based on a person’s weight. But what if you are the guru of this? Then this table for converting pounds to kilograms will help you:
1 Pound = 0.454 kg
Here is such a short, but, I hope, useful article.)))
P.S. Ask all your questions in the comments to this article - I will be happy to answer them! And don't forget SHOPOKlang so you don't miss new interesting articles!
Each country has its own systems of measures of length, weights, volume and other things. And if the kilograms we are familiar with turn into strange pounds, and kilometers into miles, then we begin to get confused in the calculations. It's not difficult to figure all this out. Especially if you use the acquired knowledge in practice.
Today we’ll talk about what English measures of length and weight there are, how many ounces are in a pound, what a pint is, what a stone is, and also how to correctly use other common English measures.
Units of measurement or measures of measurement are different for each country. In some places ounces are common, in others it is customary to show the weather in degrees Fahrenheit rather than Celsius. To immerse yourself in a foreign culture and better understand native speakers, you need to know how English measures of measurement differ from Russian ones and how to correctly translate them into the indicators we are familiar with.
For example, knowing the English unit of weight will help you quickly navigategrocery store or market, as well.But the English unit of length will come in handy when you need to estimate someone’s height or talk about your own, as well as determine the distance to the desired place. Well, don’t forget about the English unit of mass, which is useful for larger-scale calculations.
Weights
Most often, ounces and pounds are used to measure the weight of products (weight measure, or units of mass). 1 ounce is equal to approximately 30 grams. A pound contains 16 ounces and is equal to just over 450 grams, or almost half a kilogram. There is also such a measure of weight as a stone. It is equal to 14 pounds or 6.3 kg.
- Ounce (ounce) = 28.35 g
- Pound = 453.6 g (16 ounces)
- Stone = 6.35 kg (14 lbs)
You may also encounter measures such as short ton, which is used in the USA and is equal to 907.18 kg, and long ton, which is equal to 1016 kg and is typical for the UK.
It's easy to convert pounds to kilograms by dividing the number in half. The value, of course, will be approximate, but it will be easy to calculate. So, for example, 30 pounds is just under 15 kg. But if someone tells you that they have lost ten pounds, then this means that they have lost almost 5 kilos.
Oz is the symbol for ounce, which makes sense. But the abbreviation for pound, which can be found in stores, is lb. This is explained by the fact that the word pound comes from a combination of the Latin words libra (scales) and pondo (weight). Over time, the phrase was transformed into pound, but the abbreviated version lb remained in use.
By the way, when you go to a store or market to buy groceries, you may come across such an unusual measure as dozen or dozen. This means 12 pieces of some thing. For example, you can ask to weigh half a dozen of pears, and the seller will count out 6 pieces for you.
Measures of liquids and solids
As in the case of weight, liquid measures (or units of capacity) may at first glance be unusual for Russian-speaking people.
In addition to the generally accepted liters and milliliters, there is a fluid ounce, which is equal to 28.4 ml. For example, according to popular belief, a person needs to drink 2 liters of water per day. One liter contains approximately 35 fluid ounces. This means that 2 liters of water in ounces will be equal to 70.
By the way, in stores abroad or on perfume labels, you have probably come across such a designation as fl.oz. This is short for the aforementioned fluid ounce.
Another popular measure of liquid is the pint. Moreover, in the UK and the USA it has different meanings. In the USA, a pint is 0.473 liters, and in England it is 0.57 liters. Even glasses for foamy drinks in the UK are “tailored” to the local pint. There is also a quart, which is equal in volume to two pints. So if someone says they drank a quart of beer, that means they downed two pint glasses.
As for barrel (barrel) and gallon (gallon), their meanings also differ in the United States (US) and Great Britain (GB). The British gallon is slightly less than a liter larger than the American one, but the difference in barrels is already almost 45 liters. The barrel itself, in turn, can still be simple and “oil”, which also differs from the generally accepted meaning. It is about oil barrels and their prices that we constantly hear in the news.
- Gallon = 4.546 L (GB)/3.784 L (US)
- Barrel = 163.65 L (GB)/119.2 L (US)
- Barrel (oil) = 158.988 l
Dry and bulk substances can be measured in the following units:
- Quart (quart) = 1.136 l
- Peck = 9.09 l
- Bushel = 36.37 l
Linear measures
The English system of length measures (linear measure, units of length) is based on inches, feet, yards and miles. Their values are specified in the British Imperial System of Measurement and are used both in the UK and in the USA and other countries. Let's figure out what's what.
The inch is one of those measures that you are more likely to encounter in real life than others. One inch is equal to 2.5 centimeters. It is quite easy to convert this measure into the one we are familiar with - simply multiply the value in inches by 2.5. So, 10 inches will be equal to 25 centimeters, 50 - 125 cm and so on.
A foot is a popular unit of measurement that is equal to 12 inches (approximately 30 cm). As you probably guessed from the name, this measure used to be equal to the length of a man's foot, and you could measure the length with your steps or with your feet. By the way, there is also such a measure as hand, equal to 4 inches or 10 centimeters. You probably already guessed how it is measured.
There is also a yard, which is equal to 3 feet or almost 1 meter (0.91 m). Converting yards to meters is also quite easy. If you don’t focus on errors, but look at the approximate distance, then the yards will be equal to our meters.
As for the mile, in which all distances between points on the map are measured, it is equal to 1.609 km. By the way, a nautical mile differs from a land mile and is equal to 1.853 km. To convert the value in miles to approximately the usual kilometers, multiply the number in miles by 1.5.
- Inch (inch) = 25.4 mm (2.54 cm)
- Foot = 0.3048 m (12 inches)
- Hand = 10.16 cm (4 inches)
- Yard = 0.9144 m (3 feet)
- Furlong = 201 m (220 yards)
- Mile = 1.609 km (8 furlongs)
This is not to say that we do not use English measurements at all. Thus, inches are well known to us from the sizes of TV screens and other devices: you need to multiply the value in inches by 2.5 and you get the length in centimeters. But we are accustomed to this designation and already have difficulty perceiving the screen diagonal in centimeters and meters.
Area measures
Since we're talking about distances, let's look at the English square measure, units of area.
Everything here is quite logical. Where we have square centimeters, in England and the USA we use square inches. Where square meters are square feet and so on. They are also calculated by analogy: inch by inch and pound by pound are multiplied.
The same goes for yards and miles.
- Square inch = 6.45 cm²
- Square foot = 929 cm²
- Square yard = 0.836 m²
- Square mile = 2.59 km²
In the English system of measurement there is another measure that is often used to indicate the area of land. This is an acre. It is equal to 0.405 hectares or 4046.86 m². So, in two hectares of land there will be almost five acres. This concept is often used in agriculture and news. For example, when they say that farmers harvested 50 acres of wheat this year, this means that 20 hectares were sown with grain, or just over 200,000 square meters land.
Volume measures
According to the measurement system, volume (cubic measure) in English-speaking countries is also measured using inches, pounds and yards. In order to measure volume, you need to multiply three values: length, width and height.
- Cubic inch = 16.39 cm³
- Cubic foot = 0.028 m³
- Cubic yard = 0.76 m³