1.75

[Rachel Adams]

Hello.
In British English how do you pronounce one's height?
1.75 as 'one point seven five'? If numbers are pronounced separately after 'point'.

 

[PeterCW]

Normally I would say "about five foot nine".*

I don't think that there is really a consensus on metric measures yet as a significant portion of the population still thinks in imperial. Technically you should say "one point seven five" which is how I was taught at school, but I think that a lot of people will say "one seventyfive" or "one metre seventyfive". What is definitely incorrect is "one point seventyfive".


* With talking about height it is common to say "foot" rather than "feet" in colloquial BrE, particularly if omitting the word "inches". So "five foot nine" or "five feet nine inches".

 

[emsr2d2]

As Peter said, most of us (or at least most of us over a certain age) still use feet and inches. If I had to give my height in metric, I'd say "One metre seventy-five".

 

[Tdol]

In metric, I would say one point seven five. I think the context would probably make it clear that we're talking metric, though the metric system has not been adopted by many.

 

[Tdol]

Actually, one seventy-five would suffice.

 

[Rachel Adams]

Normally I would say "about five foot nine".*

I don't think that there is really a consensus on metric measures yet as a significant portion of the population still thinks in imperial. Technically you should say "one point seven five" which is how I was taught at school, but I think that a lot of people will say "one seventyfive" or "one metre seventyfive". What is definitely incorrect is "one point seventyfive".


* With talking about height it is common to say "foot" rather than "feet" in colloquial BrE, particularly if omitting the word "inches". So "five foot nine" or "five feet nine inches".

I didn't know that it's not wrong to omit the hyphen.

 

[GoesStation]

I didn't know that it's not wrong to omit the hyphen.

If you're talking about one seventyfive, that's an error. It should be "one seventy-five".

 

[Rover_KE]

It is wrong to omit the hyphens. I added them in Peter's post.

 

[Rachel Adams]

It is wrong to omit the hyphens. I added them in Peter's post.

Regarding the word 'point' again. In this sentence from my grammar book 'The Titanic was going at 22.5 knots when it hit the iceberg. The pronunciation is the same as I learnt from previous posts 'twenty-two point five' or if it was 22. 10 or 22. 15 it would be 'twenty-two point one oh', 'twenty-two point one five'. I am lost when it's 10, 20, or 30.

 

[emsr2d2]

Regarding the word 'point' again, in this sentence from my grammar book 'The Titanic was going at 22.5 knots when it hit the iceberg, the pronunciation is the same as I learnt from previous posts - 'twenty-two point five' or if it was 22.10 or 22.15 it would be 'twenty-two point one oh', 'twenty-two point one five'. I am lost when it's 10, 20, or 30.

"22.5 knots" would be read aloud as either "twenty-two point five knots" or "twenty-two and a half knots".

"22.10" would just be "twenty-two point one" because the zero doesn't really mean anything. It could be written as "22.1".

"22.15" would be read aloud as "twenty-two point one five".

 

[GoesStation]

Read 22.10 as "twenty-two point one zero" in a context where you have to express the level of precision the number represents. Most scientific contexts will require this. In most other contexts, the zero adds no information and can be dropped.

 

[Rachel Adams]

"22.5 knots" would be read aloud as either "twenty-two point five knots" or "twenty-two and a half knots".

"22.10" would just be "twenty-two point one" because the zero doesn't really mean anything. It could be written as "22.1".

"22.15" would be read aloud as "twenty-two point one five".

Feet and inches are not part of international metric system. Right? For me to understand how tall someone is whose height is 'five foot nine' I need to convert it to 'one point seven five', 'one seventy-five', or 'one meter seventy-five'. These are examples of metric system. Am I right?

 

[Rover_KE]

'one point seven five', 'one seventy-five', are only acceptable if your hearer/reader knows you are referring to metres.

 

[GoesStation]

Feet and inches are not part of the [STRIKE]international[/STRIKE] metric system. Right? For me to understand how tall someone is whose height is 'five foot nine', I need to convert it to 'one point seven five meters', 'one seventy-five', or 'one meter seventy-five'. These are examples of the metric system. Am I right?

Yes. Francophone Quebeckers still routinely use feet and inches for human heights. I don't know about other Canadians.

 

[emsr2d2]

Yes. Francophone Quebeckers still routinely use feet and inches for human heights. I don't know about other Canadians.

Out of curiosity, how do you say "I'm five feet five [inches]" in French? I speak pretty good French but I've definitely never known the words for feet or inches! (Yes, I know Google Translate would tell me but I like real people!)

 

[Rachel Adams]

'one point seven five', 'one seventy-five', are only acceptable if your hearer/reader knows you are referring to metres.

That's why GoesStation added 'meters'. I see. In 'one meter seventy-five' there is no 'and' before 'seventy-five' is it never used or it is because it can be omitted?

 

[GoesStation]

Out of curiosity, how do you say "I'm five feet five [inches]" in French? I speak pretty good French but I've definitely never known the words for feet or inches! (Yes, I know Google Translate would tell me but I like real people!)

I'd have to ask a québécois friend to be sure, but I think one way would be Je mesure cinq pieds, cinq puces. I'm pretty sure cinq cinq works, too.

Commercial real estate is still advertised in square feet in Quebec. You'll see billboards advertising 7000 pds cs, if I remember right. That stands for "pieds carrés".