how long is your back?
I would like to know how to express myself when I am talking about measurements.
For example:
How tall are you? I am 1'63 cm.
How long is your back? It is 80 cm.
How wide is your wrist? It is 20 cm.
Is it OK?. Thank you in advance.
16 Answers
HI , hi there
Would it be better to say:
How long is your back? it is 80cm long. (?? I would have said that...)
Nila, how broad is your back (from shoulder to shoulder) ..then you can introduce shoulder , too
I think you actually don't say wide...it is broad, also when you measure your chest...
Hithere , if you can confirm??
I would just say: ok, let's measure our wrist, our head...
How tall are you?
This is a proper question.
How long is your back?
This makes me think of the measurement from the neck to the waist, and is a proper way to ask for that dimension. However it is not an often asked question. I agree with Heidita and lorenzo that if this is in reference to clothing, asking for the 'shoulder to shoulder' measurement is more common.
If I were to be in a tailor's shop, I think I would hear: "What is your shoulder width?"
How wide is your wrist?
This makes me think of putting my hand flat on a table and measuring the wrist from the left to right. That would be the 'width'.
I would say "Measure your (partner´s) back from shoulder to shoulder. How wide is their back?" Or "How wide is your (partner´s) back? Measure it from shoulder to shoulder."
Broad is fairly uncommon except in fixed expressions like "broad-shouldered".
If you want the circumference, you could say "what is the circumference of your chest?" You could add "just under the arms" to make it less ambiguous.
For wrist, you could say "what is the circumference of your wrist?" You could also say "how far around is your wrist?" This is not really correct English, but its probably what most people would say.
Although it seems highly suspect that your wrist is 20 cm wide (perhaps you meant the circumference?), I see no problems with how you put these phrases.
How broad is correct for the back, but for clothing measurements (for men) circumference is normally used. Mens shirts are sized by neck circumference and sleeve length for some odd reason.
Hi Nila....both statements are equally correct in English:
"My waist is 60 cm in circumference" is more formal and precise while the phrase "My waist measures 60 cm round" is more informal and most apt to be used when playing a game.
By the way, is it all right: he was broad shouldered?
El era ancho de hombros.
The thing is that you would almost never ask for the circumference of your chest or waist. The way you measure parts of the body for everything from clothing to the doctor's office are standardized. That is, there is only one correct way to measure them. Therefore you would only ask for their measurements or size (size for women unless you are tailoring something while men's sizes are typically in inches or centimeters for high quality clothing): What are your measurements? or What size do you wear? Depending on the gender, you will get different answers:
What are your measurements?: Women: chest, waist, hips (example from Baby Got Back - 36", 24", 36") Men: neck sleeve (ex 19" 35") All measurements are said without the unit of measurement afterward: thirty six twenty four thirty six
Most people (at least in the US) don't know their exact measurements. A man might know if they have been fitted for a suit.
In casual conversation, there are only a few actual measurements that come up with waist being by far the most common for women and neck or chest for men (for shirts and suit jackets respectively). You could ask how broad a guy's shoulders are but they probably aren't going to know. They will probably shrug and say their shirt size (Small, Medium, or Large). And unless you are shopping, it is pretty rude to ask a women what size she wears.
And I have never heard of measuring a wrist. What would you need it for?
Male measurements: shirt sizes how to take the measurements
Women measurements: sizes how to take women's measurements
I'm not sure that you even meant to be speaking about clothing sizes, but that's the direction that this discussion has headed. 
However if you are referring to measurements in general here are some more comments about your questions:
I measure o I’m 60 cm round the waist;
Just a little detail, Nila, about 'round' and 'around'. In this context the correct statement would be: "I measure / I am 60 cm around the waist." An object can be said to be "10 cm round", but when referring to the specifics of where the measurement was taken it changes to: "It measures 10 cm around the center."
how wide/broad is your back/chest?.
Both are fine, although using 'wide' is much more common when asking for this type of dimension.
But, when I am talking about the wrist. I can dare to say: How wide is your wrist? from side to side
That's correct.
What is the circumference of your wrist? round
The question is correct. (See note above about 'round')
How wide is your chest? from side to side
Correct.
What is the circumference of your chest? round.
What is the circumference of your waist? round.
Both questions are correct. (See note above about 'round')
I mean, I see that in practice you can use "broad" and "wide" for shoulders. Then, it is possible to use both of them. Are they interchangeable in these cases?.
In general I would say 'yes', the two words are interchangeable. However there are undoubtedly uses of which I can't think at the moment where one would not sound right replacing the other.
Well I just thought of a couple of instances. Objects, things of substance (just about of any kind) can be 'wide' or 'broad'. However it would be odd to call an opening 'broad'. It would be a "wide doorway", rather than a "broad doorway". And figuratively speaking, 'broad' would be used rather than 'wide': "He is broad minded.", "That's a broad statement."
I hope that helps. Its helping me!
"How big is your chest" gets around 230,000
Then, what could the answer be?. My chest is 80 cms. (big?) Or would it work the same if I say it without "big" or something like this?.
A lot of the confusion here seems to come from the meaning of "How big is (body part x)?"
Here "big" refers to the standard measurement for each part, which in turn is related to how clothing is sized. In fact, many people would answer with their clothing size rather than their measurement.
The four questions "How broad/wide is your back/chest?" each get less than 10 hits on google, while "How big is your chest" gets around 230,000. That is fairly representative of their frequency in spoken English: in my 50 years of life, I have never been asked any of the first four questions. That doesn't mean they aren't proper English, they are just things that people rarely say.
After having added this, I can think in:
how wide/broad is your back/chest?.
But, when I am talking about the wrist. I can dare to say:
How wide is your wrist? from side to side
What is the circumference of your wrist? round
How wide is your chest? from side to side
What is the circumference of your chest? round.
What is the circumference of your waist? round.
I suppose they are all right, but I cannot dare to say "broad" with smaller things as wrist. What do your think of all this?. I would like to know your answers. Correct me the mistakes if there is any.
And.... in spite of the content of my dictionary about the use of "broad" for physical appearance I have found this in the Internet:
Wider shoulders balance wider hips. Seriously - shoulders are nothing to be concerned about.
I do not have wide feet in the least. But she has insisted all of my life that I have wide feet .
I happen to have broad shoulders too. But I see this as a good thing.
I am 5 feet tall and (i just measured) my shoulders are 19 inches! And yeah - I wear a large shirt. No one calls me a line backer though. So I wonder if your friends comment isnt about how wide your shoulders are - but how narrow his are
And other people also used "wide" for shoulders in this website:
I have wide shoulders but like other peeps say it makes my waist look narrow, and my hips flare out, so I have a slight hour glass shape.
I mean, I see that in practice you can use "broad" and "wide" for shoulders. Then, it is possible to use both of them. Are they interchangeable in these cases?.
Anyway, I hope that at least "wide" only can be used for objects. But my dictionary also says that it is a preference as you can see above.
I have just found a definition of "broad" and "wide" in the dictionary. I would like to know what your opinions are. Perhaps the difference is only in conversation. What do you think?
wide - broad Something that is wide or broad measures a large distance from one side to the other. You can say that something such as a street or river is wide or broad. Wide is more common in conversation. There were no shops on this wide street. The streets of this town are broad.
In front of them was a long, wide river.
He thought of the prisoners peering out at the broad river.
When you are talking about objects, you usually say that they are wide, rather than `broad'. ...a wide bed. Six men came stumbling out through a wide doorway.
When you are talking about people's physical characteristics, you usually use broad, rather than `wide'. He was tall, with broad shoulders. ...a broad, hefty Irish nurse.
mídete la cintura
measure your waist
mido 60 cm de cintura
I measure o I’m 60 cm round the waist;
I found this in the dictionary. Are these sentences right? It is to contrast with the sentences with "circumference" that appear above. I mean, perhaps can be used both of them but in differente contexts. I would like to know your opinions.
