Measures of weight in various countries. US units. What you should know How is the weight of England measured

Each country has its own systems of measures of length, weights, volume and other things. And if the kilograms we are accustomed to turn into outlandish pounds, and kilometers into miles, then we begin to get confused in the calculations. Understanding all this is not difficult. Especially if you use the acquired knowledge in practice.

Today we'll talk about what are English measures length and weight, how many ounces are in a pound, what a pint is, what a stone is, and how to properly use other common English measures.

Units of measurement or measures of measurement are different for each country. Somewhere ounces are common, somewhere it is customary to show the weather in degrees Fahrenheit, and not Celsius. In order 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 indicators we are used to.

For example, knowing the English measure 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 evaluate someone's height or talk about your own, as well as determine the distance to the right place. Well, do not forget about the English unit of mass, which is useful for larger calculations.

Measures of weight

Most often, ounces and pounds are used to measure the weight of products (weight measure, or units of mass). 1 ounce equals approximately 30 grams. A pound contains 16 ounces and is equal to 450 and a few 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 (pound) = 453.6 g (16 oz)
  • Stone (stone) = 6.35 kg (14 pounds)

You may also come across such measures as the short ton (short ton), which is used in the USA and is equal to 907.18 kg, and the long ton (long ton), which is equal to 1016 kg and is typical for the UK.

Pounds can easily be converted 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 a little less than 15 kg. But if someone tells you that he lost a dozen pounds, then this means that he lost almost 5 kilos.

Oz is the designation for an ounce, which is quite logical. But the abbreviation for the 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, going to the store or to the market for 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 (half a dozen of) pears, and the seller will count you 6 pieces.

Measures of liquids and granular bodies

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 (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. There are approximately 35 fluid ounces in one liter. 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 probably met 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 meaning. In the USA, a pint is equal to 0.473 liters, and in England - 0.57 liters. Even glasses for foamy drinks in the UK are “sharpened” for a local pint. There is also a quart (quarta), which is equal in volume to two pints. So if someone says that he drank a quart of beer, it means that he emptied two pints.

As for the barrel (barrel) and gallon (gallon), their values ​​are also different in the US (US) and the UK (GB). A British gallon is slightly less than a liter larger than an American gallon, 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 cost that we constantly hear in the news.

  • Gallon (gallon) = 4.546 L (GB) / 3.784 L (US)
  • Barrel (barrel) = 163.65 liters (GB) / 119.2 liters (US)
  • Barrel (oil) = 158.988 liters

Dry and bulk solids can be measured in the following units:

  • Quart (quart) \u003d 1.136 l
  • Peck (peck) \u003d 9.09 l
  • Bushel (bushel) \u003d 36.37 l

Linear measures

The English system of measures of length (linear measure, units of length) is based on inches, feet, yards and miles. Their values ​​are specified in the British Imperial System of Measurement (British Imperial System of Measurement) and are used both in the UK and in the USA and in other countries. Let's figure out what's what.

Inch (inch) - one of those measures that in real life are more likely to meet you than others. One inch equals 2.5 centimeters. It is quite easy to translate this measure into our usual one - just multiply the value in inches by 2.5. So, 10 inches will be equal to 25 centimeters, 50 - 125 cm and so on.

Foot (foot) - a popular measure of measurement, which 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 steps or your feet. By the way, there is also such a measure as a hand (hand), equal to 4 inches or 10 centimeters. How it is measured, you probably already guessed.

There is also a yard (yard), which is equal to 3 feet or almost 1 meter (0.91 m). Converting yards to meters is also quite easy. If you do not get hung up 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 is different from a land mile and is equal to 1.853 km. To convert the value in miles to the usual kilometers approximately - multiply the number in miles by 1.5.

  • Inch (inch) = 25.4 mm (2.54 cm)
  • Foot (foot) = 0.3048 m (12 inches)
  • Hand (hand) = 10.16 cm (4 inches)
  • Yard (yard) \u003d 0.9144 m (3 feet)
  • Furlong = 201 m (220 yards)
  • Mile (mile) = 1.609 km (8 furlongs)

This is not to say that we do not use English measures of measurement at all. So, 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 have difficulty perceiving the screen diagonal in centimeters and meters.

Measures of area

Since we are talking about distances, let's take a look at the English measures of area (square measure, units of area).

Everything is pretty logical here. Where we have square centimeters - in England and the USA square inches are used. Where square meters are square feet and so on. They are also considered by analogy: inch by inch and pound by pound are multiplied.

The same goes for yards and miles.

  • Square inch (square inch) = 6.45 cm²
  • Square foot = 929 cm²
  • Square yard (square yard) \u003d 0.836 m²
  • Square mile (square mile) = 2.59 km²

In the English system of measurement, there is another measure that is often used to indicate the area of ​​\u200b\u200bland. This is an acre. It equals 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 a little more than 200,000 square meters earth.

Measures of volume

According to the measurement system, volume (cubic measure) in English-speaking countries is also measured using inches, pounds and yards. In order to measure the 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

Abbreviations of measures in English

We have already mentioned above how this or that measure of measurement will be indicated in an abbreviated form. Here's how other popular measures are shortened to one or two letters:

  • centimeter - cm
  • meter - meter - m
  • inch - inch - in
  • foot - foot - ft
  • yard - yard - yd
  • furlong - furlong - fur
  • mile - mile - m
  • kilometre-kilometer
  • ounce - ounce - oz
  • pound - pound - lb
  • pint - pint - pt
  • quart - quart - qt
  • liter - liter - l
  • gallon - gallon - gal
  • square yard - square yard - sq yd
  • cubic inch - cubic inch - cu in

Now you know everything about the measures of weight, length and liquids in English language. With a little practice, you'll be as good as the locals at figuring out how many ounces in a pound and how many furlongs to the nearest bar for a pint or two.

US units. When you go to give birth in the USA (you can read about why they go to give birth in the USA), you will have to live in this country for some time, enjoy its benefits and put up with some not always convenient features. It cannot be said that the inconvenience is significant, rather it is a matter of habit, but some of them can practically lead to a stupor. First of all, we are talking about the measurement system adopted in the United States.

Forget the usual centimeters, meters, liters, kilograms, grams, degrees Celsius - most Americans have only heard about them, but have no idea how many kilograms they weigh and how many liters fit in the gas tank of their car. This would be only half the problem if local units of measurement were formed according to the same system as in the metric scale - 1000 grams in a kilogram, 1000 kilograms in a ton, 100 centimeters in a meter, and so on. Here, everything is completely different and there is no system, you just need to remember.

Why did it happen? A small digression into history. As you know, the United States at one time was predominantly an English colony and, accordingly, the same system of measures was adopted in the United States as in Great Britain - the imperial one. Units of measurement were formed simply, for example, a foot is the length of a king's foot, a gallon is the size of a standard wine jug at that time, etc. In this form, this system migrated to the United States. It is curious that officially the imperial system of measurement currently exists only in three countries - these are the USA, Liberia and Myanmar. In Great Britain itself, where the imperial system of measurement comes from, the metric system has long been formally adopted.

So, you had a baby in the USA, in the hospital immediately after birth they weighed him, measured him and told you that your baby weighs, for example, 6 Lb (pounds) and 5 Oz (ounces), and his height was 22.5 In (inch). You are interested in his temperature, and the nurse answers you that the baby's temperature is normal, a little over 98 degrees. How to be? Of course, we are exaggerating a little - all medical workers, unlike ordinary people, are familiar with the metric system of measurement and can easily convert data into the form we are used to, but nevertheless, local units of measurement must, if not know by heart, then at least understand. After all, the speed on the road signs is indicated in miles, you will fill the rented car with gallons of fuel, weigh the goods in stores in pounds, and measure the baby’s temperature in Fahrenheit (if you didn’t bring your usual Celsius thermometer with you from home). Below we list the main units of measurement that you will regularly encounter when traveling to give birth in America.

  • 1 mile (mile) - 1609 meters
  • 1 foot (foot) - 0.304 meters
  • 1 inch (inch) - 2.54 cm.
  • 1 ft2 - 0.09 m2. The area of ​​apartments is measured in feet. To make it easier to understand, 100 feet2 is a little more than 9 m2.
  • 1 acre - 0.405 hectares
  • 1 pound (Lb) - 454 grams. Please note that the weight in stores is indicated in pounds. Therefore, the price per pound of apples is approximately 2.2 times less than the price per kilogram.
  • 1 ounce (Oz) - 28.3 grams

Liquid:

  • 1 gallon - 3.78 liters
  • 1 pint (Pt) - 0.47 liters
  • 1 ounce (Oz) - 29.5 grams

Temperature. With temperature, it’s getting more and more difficult and it will be difficult for you to calculate exact numbers without a calculator, so it’s easier to just remember a few values ​​that generally reflect the situation. For example, a body temperature of 98 degrees is the norm. 100 degrees outside is hot, 70 is pleasant, 32 is zero Celsius and anything below is freezing. It is worth noting that most manufacturers of goods in the United States have recently duplicated information in the metric system on their products, so you can go shopping without a calculator.

And by the way, the date in the USA is also written differently - first the month is indicated, then the day, and at the end the year.

We will be happy to organize your birth trip in the USA, we have been working for a long time, transparently and professionally. You can familiarize yourself with the prices for our services.

We also provide additional services of assistance in the preparation of Russian and American documents and provide excursion support in the state of Utah.

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study any foreign language impossible without studying the cultural characteristics of a given country. In order to better understand the language itself, it is necessary to pay attention to the realities, traditions, linguistic and cultural differences of the nation. In our case, we are talking about the English-speaking population (as usual, we take the UK and the USA). English (American) units of measurement (units of measurement) just relate to those features in which it is desirable to understand in order to fully understand their written and oral speech.

You have probably come across English (American) units of measurement more than once. For example, I often met them in English-language literature, news, TV shows, movies, etc. And how to cook interesting dish English or American recipe? All ingredients in it are also listed in ounces and pounds. Sometimes you read some book in English, you reach it and stop, trying to understand how tall he is. After all, it is measured in feet and inches, which is unusual for us, because many do not know the meaning of these quantities. We have a metric system, give us meters and centimeters. Or listen to world news in English: again discussing the price of oil. And one barrel costs so much and so much. How much is in this barrel? Liters are more familiar to us. And they measure liquids in gallons, and they weigh everything in pounds and ounces.

If you have already encountered similar situations, then, obviously, you looked into the table of English (American) units of measurement in order to approximately estimate what quantities are in question. If you haven't tried it yet, let's take a look.

English (American) linear measures

According to the English system of units ( British Imperial System of measurement), which is used in the UK, the United States of America and other countries, the main linear measures ( linear measure) are the following values:

  1. inch ( inch) = 25.4 mm (2.54 cm)
  2. foot ( foot) = 0.3048 m (or 12 inches)
  3. yard ( yard) = 0.9144 m (or 3 feet)
  4. Mile ( miles) = 1.609 km (or 1.760 yards)
  5. Hand ( hand) = 10.16 cm (or 4 inches)

Note that the nautical mile value ( nautical miles) is somewhat different - 1.8532 (England) and 1.852 (USA). If you need to convert the value in feet as quickly as possible, divide the number in feet by three. And if you want the length in miles hastily to convert to kilometers, multiply the number by 1.5 (or divide the number of miles by 5 and multiply by 8). Get an approximate result in each case. By the way, a yard is almost a meter (91.44 cm), you can safely round it up.

The common narwhal or sea unicorn often attains a length of sixty feet. - The common narwhal whale often reaches 60 feet (20 meters) in length.

She wears classic 5 inch high heels. – She wears dress shoes with 5 inch (12-13 cm) heels.

English (American) area measures

Under area units ( square measure) we understand any values ​​in the "square", namely:

  1. square inch ( square inch) = 6.45 cm²
  2. square foot ( square foot) = 929 cm²
  3. square yard ( square yard) = 0.836 m²
  4. square mile ( square mile) = 2.59 km²
  5. acre ( acre) = 0.405 ha = 4046.86 m²

The new value is "acre". To quickly convert acres to hectares, multiply the value by 0.4. Even faster is to divide by two. The approximate area in hectares will become known. It's easier with square feet - divide the number by 10, and you have a value in meters.

We bought an old house on five acres. - We bought new house on five acres of land (2 ha).

How many square yards are there in a square meter? How many square yards are in a square meter?

English (American) measures of weight

In what units are the British or Americans used to measure the weight of a substance ( weight measure), product, etc.?

  1. ounce ( ounce, oz) = 28.35 g
  2. Pound ( pounds) = 453.59 g (or 16 oz)
  3. Stone ( stone) = 6.35 kg (or 14 lb) - used primarily in the USA
  4. short ton ( short tone) = 907.18 kg
  5. long ton ( long tone) = 1016 kg

You have probably already noticed that the basic unit of measurement - the pound - is almost half a kilogram. Therefore, converting the number you need to pounds and vice versa is not difficult. To specify, for example, your weight in pounds, simply double it.

Baby Brianna weighed 13 ounces at birth. – Little Brianna weighed 13 ounces (370 g) at birth.

How to lose 20 pounds forever in exercise and diet? How to permanently lose 20 pounds (9 kg) through exercise and diet?

English (American) measures of volume

Among the main English (American) units of measurement of volume ( cubic measure) should be called:

  1. Cubic inch = 16.39 cm³
  2. Cubic foot = 0.028 m³
  3. Cubic yard = 0.76 m³

How many cubic yards does this dump truck hold? How many cubic yards does this dump truck hold?

The USA has more than 2200 trillion cubic feet of gas waiting to be pumped, enough to satisfy nearly 100 years of current US natural-gas demand. – The US has more than 22 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, which is enough to supply the US for the next hundred years at current consumption levels.

English (American) measures of liquids and bulk solids

How do they measure liquid substances ( liquid measure)?

  1. Butt ( butt) = 490.97 l
  2. Barrel ( barrel) = 163.65 L ( GB)/119.2 l ( US)
  3. Barrel (oil) = 158.988 L ( GB)/158.97 l ( US)
  4. gallon ( gallons) = 4.546 L ( GB)/3.784 l ( US)
  5. Pint ( pint) = 0.57 L ( GB)/0.473 l ( US)
  6. fluid ounce ( fluid ounce) = 28.4 ml

How many ounces of water should I drink every day? How many ounces of water a day should I drink?

How many gallons of gasoline are consumed in the USA? How many gallons of fuel does the US population consume?

Greetings, dear readers! Very often in movies we hear about inches, yards, miles, acres. Almost every day on the news they say 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 what exactly the amount of oil in liters is. Therefore, knowing the units of measurement in the USA, Canada and England is necessary not only for English learners, but will also be useful for general development each to represent what is being said in the news, literature or movies.

English units

English units and measures of length, weight, volume, area, mass and other indicators are very different from those in Russian. Many of them, as I said, you could hear from movies, TV shows or news, read in English literature. But there are in the USA and England, as well as in Australia and Canada, such units of measurement that are not known to Russian speakers at all. For example, bushel, mil, genus, pepper and many others.

Sometimes it is very difficult to navigate new material or interesting information in English precisely because of ignorance of the meanings of some foreign measures. Therefore, in this article we will analyze in detail the units of measurement in English, find out their names, and how much it will be approximately if we translate 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. UK like European country, has long adopted the decimal and metric system of measures, but the press and ordinary people are in no hurry to accept the new system, and use the old one. The most common units of length, weight, and volume in English are the barrel, foot, pint, acre, yard, inch, and mile.

  • 1 fluid ounce (fl. oz.) = 28.43 ml (cm³)
  • 1 ounce = 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 over 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 of them. Indeed, in newspapers, on radio and television, these words, symbols and designations incomprehensible to us in English or their tracing paper in Russian are regularly found.

Table of the most common English measures of measurement

To make it easier for you to navigate in 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 conspicuous place, so that if necessary, you can easily look into it.

Unit in English

In Russian

Approximate value

Length & Areas

milesmile1609 m
nautical milesnautical mile1853 m
leagueleague4828.032 m
cablescable185.3 m
yardyard0.9144 m
pole, rod, perchgenus, gender, perch5.0292 m
furlongfurlong201.16 m
milmil0.025 mm
lineline2.116 mm
handhand10.16 cm
chainchain20.116 m
pointdot0.35 mm
inchinch2.54 cm
footfoot0.304 m
square milesquare mile258.99 ha
square inchsq. inch6.4516 s m²
square yardsq. yard0.83 613 cm²
square footsq. foot929.03 cm²
square rodsq. genus25.293 cm²
acreacre4046.86 m²
roodores1011.71 m²

Weight, Mass (Weight)

long tonebig ton907 kg
short tonesmall ton1016 kg
chaldroncheldron2692.5 kg
poundslb.453.59 g
ounce, ozounce28.349 g
quintalquintal50.802 kg
short hundredweightcentral45.36 kg
hundredweightHandredwaith50.8 kg
todtod12.7 kg
short quarterquarter short11.34 kg
dramdrachma1.77 g
graingran64.8 mg
stonestone6.35 kg

Volume

barrel oilbarrel of oil158.97 l
barrelbarrel163.6 l
pintpint0.57 l
bushelbushel35.3 l
cubic yardcubic yard0.76 m³
cubic feetcube. foot0.02 m³
cubic inchcube. inch16.3 cm³
liquid ounceFluid ounce28.4 ml
quartquart1.136 l
gallonsgallon4.54 l
MelchizedekMelchizedek30 l
Primatprimacy27 l
BalthazarBelshazzar12 l
MethuselahMethuselah6 l
MelchiorMelchior18 l
jeroboamJeroboam3 l
Magnummagnum1.5 l
RehoboamRehoboam4.5 l

Some indicators are given as an example. In printed form, you can find abbreviations, but, most often, abbreviations can guess the full name. To convert the desired unit into the lengths we need, meters, liters, and kilograms and other weight indicators can be done using rounding, division and multiplication.

If you are not going to live in the USA, Australia, England or Canada, then you can simply read this table. But if you're going to work


GRAN

  1. A measure of mass (weight) in various countries. In the English system of measures, 1 grain = 64.8 mg.
  2. Pharmaceutical measure in various countries. In Russia before the introduction metric system measures 1 grain = 62.2 mg.

Spool

Russian measure of weight, used before the introduction of the metric system of measures. 1 spool = 1/96 lb = 4.266 g

DRACHMA

  1. A measure of mass (weight) in various countries. In the English system of measures, 1 drachma \u003d 1.772 g. In other countries - about 3.2 g. In ancient systems of measures - from 3.2 to 6.5 g.
  2. Pharmaceutical measure in various countries. In England, 1 drachma = 3.888 g. In Russia, before the introduction of the metric system of measures, 1 drachma = 3.73 g.

QUART

  1. A measure of the volume of liquids. The value of a quart varies in different countries. In England, a quart = 1.136 liters; in the USA, a quart = 0.946 liters.
  2. A measure of the volume of bulk solids in the United States. 1 quart = 1.01 liters.
  3. The former Russian measure of liquids - a mug (shtof) is also sometimes called a quart.

INCH

A measure of length in the English system of measures. 1 inch = 1/12 feet = 2.54 cm.

FOOT

A measure of length in various countries. The value varies from 28.3 cm (Netherlands) to 32.48 cm (Mauritius Island, Seychelles). In the English system of measures and in Russia before the introduction of the metric system of measures, 1 foot = 30.48 cm.

SHTOF

A measure of the volume of liquids used in Russia before the introduction of the metric system of measures. 1 damask \u003d 1.23 liters. Sometimes instead of SHTOF they use the name MUG.

LB

  1. A measure of mass (weight) in various countries. The value of the pound varies from 317.62 g (Italy) to 560.1 g (Austria). In the English system of measures, 1 pound = 453.592 g. In Russia, before the introduction of the metric system of measures, 1 pound unt = 409.5 g.
  2. Pharmaceutical measure in various countries. In the English system of measures, 1 pound = 373.242 g. In Russia, before the introduction of the metric system of measures, 1 pharmaceutical pound = 358.323 g.

PINT

A measure of the volume of liquids and bulk substances In the English system of measures, 1 PINT \u003d 0.56824 liters. In the US, 1 PINT for liquids = 0.47317 liters, for bulk solids = 0.55060 liters.

OUNCE

  1. A measure of mass (weight). The value of an ounce is different in different countries. In the English system of measures, 1 ounce \u003d 16 DRAKHAM \u003d 28.35 g.
  2. Pharmaceutical measure in various countries. In the English system of measures, 1 ounce = 8 DRAHMAM = 31.103 g. In Russia, before the introduction of the metric system of measures, 1 ounce = 8 DRAHMAM = 29.800 g.
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