French
Units.... |
For an American,
many things seem more difficult due to the fact that the French
(and Europeans, and in fact most of the rest of the world...)
use different units. Some of them are as arbitrary as the American
ones : see sizes, others are much simpler
: see metric, and for others, it is a different
way of seeing the same things : see differences. |
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Change
from one scale to another... |
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The
sizes for clothes, shoes, etc... are based on numbers which do
not make sense and are different from one country to another.
Here are the tables of conversion : |
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Now
you can go shopping.....
and read about the French
woman. |
Men's
shoes : if you are a US "9",
it is a French "42",
and the table is : |
|
USA |
6 1/2 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
France |
39 |
40 |
41 |
42 |
43 |
44 1/2 |
46 |
47 |
|
Women's
shoes : if
you are a US "6", it is a French "37", and the table is : |
|
USA |
3 1/2 |
4 |
4 1/2 |
5 |
5 1/2 |
6 |
6 1/2 |
7 |
7 1/2 |
8 |
8 1/2 |
France |
34 |
35 |
35 1/2 |
36 |
36 1/2 |
37 |
37 1/2 |
38 |
38 1/2 |
39 |
39 1/2 |
|
Men's
shirts : if you are a US "16
1/2", it is a French "42", and the table is : |
|
USA |
14 1/2 |
15 |
15 1/2 |
16 |
16 1/2 |
17 |
17 1/2 |
18 |
France |
37 |
38 |
39 |
41 |
42 |
43 |
44 |
45 |
|
Men's suits : if you are a US "42", you are
a French "52",
and the table is : |
|
USA |
34 |
36 |
38 |
40 |
42 |
44 |
46 |
48 |
France |
44 |
46 |
48 |
50 |
52 |
54 |
56 |
58 |
|
Women's dresses,
coats, skirts : if you are a US "10",
you are a French "40", and the table is : |
|
USA |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
France |
36 |
38 |
|
40 |
|
42 |
|
44 |
|
46 |
|
Women's blouses
: if you are a US "12"
you are a French "40" and the table is : |
|
USA |
10 |
12 |
14 |
16 |
18 |
20 |
France |
38 |
40 |
42 |
44 |
46 |
48 |
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Think metric... |
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Give up (too complicated)... |
The
French highly value "logical" concepts. They have invented
the metric system, which is "logical" ! The concept
is that all units are related by a multiple of 10, and are qualified by a prefix which indicates
how many times 10 is used .
Example : length in meters
- 10 metres = one DECAmètre
: "deca" means 10
- 100 mètres = one HECTOmètre
(and of course = 10 decamètres) : "hecto" means
100
- 1000 mètres = one KILOmètre
(and of course =10 hectomètres etc...) : "kilo"
means 1000
- etc.... for larger lengths (MEGA
= 1 000 000, GIGA = 1 000 000 000, TERA = 1 000 000 000 000), ...
and for smaller units :
- 1/10 mètre = one DECImètre
: "deci" means one tenth
- 1/100 mètre = one CENTImètre
(and of course = 1/10 decimètre) : "centi" means
1/100
- 1/1000 mètre = one MILLImètre
(and of course = 1/10 CENTImètre) : "milli"
means 1/1000
- etc.... for smaller lengths
(MICRO = 1/1 000 000, NANO = 1/1 000 000 000, PICO = 1/1 000
000 000 000, etc...)
Replace "mètre"
by "litre" and you have the scale of volumes, by "gramme"
and you have the scale of weights, etc...
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- In France, you do not measure
the mileage in "miles per gallon" but in "number
of liters per 100 kilometers" : X liters/100 km = 235/
X miles per gallon or Y miles per gallon = 235/Y liters/100
km (i.e. for an average car : " 4.5 liters/100 km equals
235/6 = 52 miles per gallon)
- The
conversion between Celsius and Farenheit is also a tricky one
: °F = 32 + 9 x °C / 5 or °C = 5 x °F / 9 - 17,8.
Just remember : water freezes at 32°F (ice cubes for your
Martini= 0°C : simpler!) and boils at 212°F (water
for your tea = 100 °C : simpler!)
- More to come
USEFUL TIPS....Dots or commas? In
France (and in most of the world except the U.S.A.),
- "12,500"
(with a comma) means twelve and a half (and not twelve thousand
and five hundred) and "12.500" (with a dot) means twelve
thousand and five hundred.
- "9/5/2003"
means May 9, 2003 and NOT September 5, 2003 (very frankly, day/month/year
seems more logical -from small to big- than month/day/year, doesn't
it?)
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Questions :
- How many square meters in a
square kilometer ? Answer : 1000 x 1000 = one million
- A liter is a 10 by 10 by 10
centimeter cube . How many liters in one cubic meter ? Answer
: 10 x 10 x 10 = one thousand
- etc...
Various conversions (with approximation
for frequently used figures) :
- Inches : 1 in = 2,54 centimeters
(1 sq.in = 6,452 cm2, 1 cu.in = 16,387 cm3)
- Feet : 1 ft = 30,48 centimeters
(1 sq.ft = 0,093 m2 i.e. roughly 1 m2 = 10 sq.ft, 1 cu
ft = 0,028 m3)
- Miles : 1 mi = 1,609 kilometers
( 1 sq.mi = 2,589 km2 i.e. roughly 1 km2 = 0,4 sq.mi)
- Acres : 1 acre = 0,4047 hectares
i.e. roughly 1 hectare = 2 acres
- Ounces : 1 oz = 28,349 grammes
i.e. roughly 1 kilogramme = 35 oz
- Pounds : 1 lb = 0,453 kilogramme
i.e. roughly 1 kilogramme = 2, 2 lb
- US Gallon : 1 gal = 3,785 liters
i.e. roughly 1 liter = 1/ 4 gal = 1 quart
- More to come
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DID YOU KNOW
THAT....? The Metric System was established during the
French Revolution to put an end to the extremely complicated
situation of the various units, which varied from one region
to the other, and set up a much simpler system. It took more
than one generation to be the only system used (and, still, some
old units, like "stères","brassée",
"lieue", etc... are sometimes used). But in every day
life, the system is based on very simple round numbers
: one cubic meter of water weighs one ton (i.e. 1000 kilos),
water freezes at 0° centigrade and boils at 100 degrees,
etc..
DID YOU KNOW
THAT....? The French still use old units in everyday life.
For instance you can buy butter, meat or vegetables using "livres"
or "demi-livre". Conveniently enough, a "livre"
is the old unit for pound and is close to the US pound (one livre
= 500 grammes when the pound is 453 grammes). Now you can buy
food in a French "marché" or take a course
in a cooking-school
! Other
old units include the "stère" (one cubic meter
of logs) used by all foresters, the "mile" (nautical
: one mile = 1852 mètres) used by all sailors, etc....
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Harriet Welty
Rochefort writes articles and books about France and the French.
Order her books:
- "Joie de Vivre", Secrets of Wining, Dining and Romancing like the French, St.Martin's Press, New York, 2012
- "French Toast, An American in Paris
Celebrates The Maddening Mysteries of the French", St.Martin's Press,
New York, 1999
- "French Fried, The Culinary Capers
of An American in Paris", St.Martin's Press, New York, 2001
More on Harriet's books (excerpts, upcoming
events, testimonials, etc..)
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