How many meters: medir, pesar, de largo and el doble
English says 'the bridge is a hundred meters long'. Spanish prefers a verb, and builds the sentence differently. For example: “¿Cuánto mide la mesa de largo?” — How long is the table?. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
English says 'the bridge is a hundred meters long'. Spanish prefers a verb, and builds the sentence differently.
The main verbs are medir and pesar: el puente mide cien metros, la maleta pesa veinte kilos. Questions use them too: ¿cuánto mide?, ¿cuánto pesas? A person's height is measured as well: mide uno setenta.
The second route is tener plus the measure plus de: tiene dos metros de largo, de ancho, de alto. What follows de is an adjective, not a noun: largo, not longitud.
Multiples and fractions. 'Twice' is el doble (cuesta el doble), 'three times' el triple. Fractions use parte: la mitad, la tercera parte. But a quarter of an hour is un cuarto de hora.
Table
| what to say | in Spanish | word for word | note |
|---|---|---|---|
| a hundred meters long | mide cien metros | measures a hundred meters | the most common way |
| two meters long | dos metros de largo | two meters of long | an adjective, not a noun |
| the wall is two meters high | la altura es de dos metros | — | the 'de' before the number |
| how much do you weigh | ¿cuánto pesas? | how much do you weigh | no tener |
| twice as expensive | el doble de caro | the double of expensive | three times — el triple |
| a quarter of the salary | la cuarta parte | the fourth part | but un cuarto de hora |
| about twenty | unos veinte | some twenty | colloquial |
| on average | de media | from the average | in Latin America: en promedio |
By example
- ¿Cuánto mide la mesa de largo?How long is the table?
- La caja pesa exactamente un kiloThe box weighs exactly one kilo
- La piscina tiene tres metros de profundidadThe pool is three meters deep
- Este piso cuesta el doble que el otroThis flat costs twice as much as the other one
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
How many meters: how does it work in Spanish?
English says 'the bridge is a hundred meters long'. Spanish prefers a verb, and builds the sentence differently.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“¿Cuánto mide la mesa de largo?” — How long is the table?. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.