To talk about dimensions, quantities, and the weather in Arabic, you will need a specialized set of vocabulary to describe weights and measurements.
Measuring and Weighing
A general word for a "measurement" or "size" is قياس.
| What is the measurement of this pink shoe? | ما قياس هذا الحذاء الوردي؟mâ qiyâsu hâdhâ l-hidhâ'i l-wardiyy? |
When checking the weight of an object, you place it on a ميزان (scale). For cooking and smaller items, the standard unit is the غرام (gram).
| Put the apples on this grey scale. | ضع التفاح على هذا الميزان الرمادي.da'i t-tuffâha 'alâ hâdha l-mîzâni r-ramâdiyyi |
| Ahmed needs a hundred grams of sugar. | يحتاج أحمد إلى مئة غرام من السكر.yahtâju ahmadu ilâ mi'ati ghirâmin mina as-sukkari. |
Length and Dimensions
For short lengths, Arabic uses borrowed metric terms like سنتيمتر (centimeter) and مليمتر (millimeter). Even though they are foreign loanwords, they follow standard Arabic grammar rules when counted with numbers.
| The length of this paper is twenty centimeters. | طول هذه الورقة عشرون سنتيمترا.tûlu hâdhihi l-waraqati 'ishrûna santîmitran |
| There are ten millimeters in a centimeter. | يوجد عشرة مليمترات في السنتيمتر.yûjadu 'asharatu milimitrâtin fî as-santîmitri |
To describe the physical proportions of a landscape or an object, use nouns like ارتفاع (height) for how tall it is, and عمق (depth) for how deep it goes.
| What is the height of this mountain? | ما هو ارتفاع هذا الجبل؟mâ huwa irtifâ'u hâdhâ al-jabali |
| The depth of this river is two meters. | عمق هذا النهر متران.'umqu hâdhâ an-nahri mitrâni |
Temperature and Distance
The word for "degree" is درجة. It is used for both angles and temperature.
| How beautiful this day is! The temperature is twenty degrees. | ما أجمل هذا اليوم! الحرارة عشرون درجة.mâ ajmala hâdhâ l-yawma! al-harâratu ishrûna darajatan. |
To specify that a temperature is in the Celsius scale, add the adjective مئوي. Because درجة is feminine, the adjective must match it in gender, becoming مئوية.
| The temperature now is thirty-five degrees Celsius. | الحرارة الآن خمس وثلاثون درجة مئوية.al-harâratu al-âna khamsun wa-thalâthûna darajatan mi'awiyyatan |
Finally, while the metric system is most common, long distances can also be measured using a ميل (mile).
| Fatima walked for a week, a distance of a hundred miles. | مشت فاطمة لمدة أسبوع، مسافة مئة ميل.mashat fâtimatu limuddati usbû'in, masâfata mi'ati mîlin |
