[Vocabulary] How to express the size of an area in English language?

[UM Chakma]

Hi,
How to express the size of an area in English? Please provide a basic knowledge about how to state it.
For example, How do I express this "37.31 km[SUP]2[/SUP]" ?

 

[Matthew Wai]

Thirty-seven point three one square kilometers.

Not a teacher.

 

[probus]

As you have put it, it would be understood by people with mathematical education. You could make it a bit more universally understandable by saying 37.31 square kilometres. But I don't think that would gain many more people.

In most of the world the standard measure of land area is the hectare, 10,000 square metres. So 37.31 square kilometres is equal to 3731 hectares, and that may be more intelligible to some people.

In North America, the acre is still used in preference to the hectare. 9219.5 acres is equivalent to 37.31 km sq.

A good way of giving most people an idea of the size of an area of land is to express it as an approximate rectangle. Instead of saying about 32 square kilometres, you could say your area is equal to a rectangle about 5 kilometres by 8 kilometres,

 

[SoothingDave]

The acre is exactly one furlong by four rods. This is the same as 4840 square yards or 43,560 square feet.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

And four rods, (or poles or perches) equal one chain, which is the distance between the wickets on a cricket pitch.

 

[UM Chakma]

Matthew's answer "Thirty-seven point three one square kilometers". Can't we say "Thirty-seven point thirty-one square kilometers"?

 

[Rover_KE]

Most (dare I say 'all'?) maths teachers insist on the figures after the decimal point being said separately.

 

[Raymott]

I'd guess that most English teachers would also reject "Thirty-seven point thirty-one square kilometers", simply because it's not what we say.

 

[UM Chakma]

Hi Rover, let me clear myself. How about this? "5.10", we all (I guess) may count this as "five dollars and ten cents". What if I say like this "five dollars point one zero cents"?

 

[SoothingDave]

Hi Rover, let me clear myself. How about this? "5.10", we all (I guess) may count this as "five dollars and ten cents". What if I say like this "five dollars point one zero cents"?

No. Don't. It is not 0.10 cents. It is 10 cents.

Talking about money, we would say something cost "five thirty-seven" to mean $5.37.

But you can't generalize that to dealing with decimals in any other measurement.