The fact is that Americans use "English system" which includes feet, miles, inches, pounds, gallons, etc as their system of measurement. In Spanish, people use metric system to measure distance, weight, or volume. So if you use English system in a Spanish-speaking country, chances are that they won't understand you well. Here in this article, we will show you some basic vocabulary in Spanish metric system. Let's find out what words should be used to talk about weight, length, volume, or area from Spanish to English.
Metric system in Spanish
Here are some most common British measurements and their metric equivalents in Spanish.
1. Length measurement
Length (Longitud)
- 1 centimeter (centímetro) = 0.3937 inches (pulgadas)
- 1 inch (pulgada) = 2.54 centimeters (centímetros)
- 1 foot (pie) = 30.48 centimeters (centímetros)
- 1 foot (pie) = 0.3048 meters (metros)
- 1 yard (yarda) = 0.9144 meters (metros)
- 1 meter (metro) = 1.093613 yards (yardas)
- 1 kilometer (kilómetro) = 0.621 miles (millas)
- 1 mile (milla) = 1.609344 kilometers (kilómetros)
To measure distance, the mtric system uses "meters".
One meter (un metro) is a little more than 3 feet.
One kilometer (a thousand meters) is just over half a mile.
A centimeter is one hundredth of a meter.
2. Weight measurement
Weight - Peso
- 1 gram (gramo) = 0.353 ounces (onzas)
- 1 ounce (onza) = 28.35 grams (gramos)
- 1 pound (libra) = 453.6 grams (gramos)
- 1 pound (libra) = 0.4563 kilograms (kilogramos)
- 1 kilogram (kilogramo) = 2.2046 pounds (libras)
- 1 American ton (tonelada americana) = 0.907 metric tons (toneladas métricas)
- 1 metric ton (tonelada métrica) = 1.1 metric tons (toneladas métricas)
In the metric system, "grams" (gramos) is used for weight.
Thirty-two grams equal about an ounce.
A kilogram (a thousand grams) equals 2.2 pounds
Converting customary units into metric units and vice versa
3. Volume and capacity measurement
Volume - volumen
Capacity - capacidad
- 1 milliliter (mililitro) = 0.034 fluid ounces (onzas fluidas)
- 1 milliliter (mililitro) = 0.2 teaspoons (cucharaditas)
- 1 fluid ounce (onza fluida) = 29.6 milliliters (mililitros)
- 1 teaspoon (cucharadita) = 5 milliliters (mililitros)
- 1 cup (taza) = 0.24 liters (litros)
- 1 quart (cuarto) = 0.95 liters (litros)
- 1 liter (litro) = 4.227 cups (tazas)
- 1 liter (litro) = 1.057 quarts (cuartos)
- 1 liter (litro) = 0.264 U.S. gallons (galones americanos)
- 1 U.S. gallon (galón americano) = 3.785 liters (litros)
4. Area measurement
Area - superficie
- 1 square centimeter (centímetro cuadrado) = 0.155 square inches (pulgadas cuadradas)
- 1 square inch (pulgada cuadrada) = 6.4516 square centimeters (centímetros cuadrados)
- 1 square foot (pie cuadrado) = 929 square centimeters (centímetros cuadrados)
- 1 acre (acre) = 0.405 hectares (hectáreas)
- 1 hectare (hectárea) = 2.471 acres (acres)
- 1 square kilometer (kilómetro cuadrado) = 0.386 square miles (millas cuadradas)
- 1 square mile (milla cuadrada) = 2.59 square kilometers (kilómetros cuadrados)
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