Les mesures

Question

I used John Darbelnet's Pensée et Structure when studying French at Purdue University in the late 60s and early 70s. He did not offer a "faire" construction at all. There were four choices:

Ce bâtiment a une longueur de trente mètres.

Ce bâtiment a trente mètres de longueur.

Ce bâtiment a trente mètres de long.

Ce bâtiment est long de trente mètres.'

It's things like this that make me question the quality of this site. John Darbelnet was a distinguished pedagogue but of a different era. I would be interested in further input. La grande robert has been of no help.

Max Kime, Indianapolis

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Max,
Thank for your comment! I can confirm that Darbelnet's text is a bit out of date and to native speakers (members of the language team and relatives ;-) ), 'faire' is definitely the verb to use here. 
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

French has evolved quite a bit over the past 50-60 years. Particularly if you look at everyday spoken French. Using "faire" to express dimensions is quite common, as any native speaker would tell you (and the kwiziq team answering questions are native speakers). A Google search also confirms the use of "faire" in this context to be nothing out of the ordinary.

Answer

Chris: My younger French friends agree with you. The Darbelnet text is indeed out of date. My faith is restored.