Bebisen är sextio centimeter lång.

From Lesson 227:Measurements and age·Swedish

Questions & Answers about Bebisen är sextio centimeter lång.

How do you form physical measurements like "sixty centimeters long" in Swedish?
The word order matches English perfectly. You put the quantity (sextio), then the unit of measurement (centimeter), and finally the adjective describing the dimension (lång).
Since there are sixty of them, shouldn't centimeter be in a plural form?
For standard units of measurement that end in -er (like centimeter, meter, or liter), Swedish usually keeps the singular spelling when the word directly follows a number. So you just say sextio centimeter.
If the baby grows up and stands, would we still use lång for height?
Yes! Unlike English, which distinguishes between "long" (length) and "tall" (height), Swedish uses lång for both. You use lång to describe both a baby's length and an adult's height.
What makes Bebisen mean "the baby" rather than just "baby"?
Bebis is an en-word, so adding the suffix -en to the end makes it definite (Bebisen), meaning "the baby". If you were talking about "a baby" in general, it would simply be en bebis.

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