There are two ways to express notions of height, length, width and depth in French:
faire [dimension] de haut, de long, de large, de profondeur
Note that while the forms de hauteur, de longueur, de largeur can also be used (though less commonly), you can NEVER say de profond.
être + haut de/long de/large de/ profond de [dimension]
Case of measurements
Note: to indicate measurements, you use faire [dimension] sur (by) [dimension].
Examples and resources
Ces baignoires font 2 mètres de long.
Ces baignoires font 2 mètres de longueur.
These bathtubs are 2 metres long.
Ce lit fait 2 mètres de long.
Ce lit fait 2 mètres de longueur.
This bed is 2 metres long.
Cette piscine est profonde de 5 mètres.
This swimming-pool is 5 metres deep.
Ce lit est long de 2 mètres.
This bed is 2 metres long.
Ma chambre est large de 4 mètres.
My bedroom is 4 metres wide.
Cette piscine fait 5 mètres de profondeur.
This swimming-pool is 5 metres deep.
Ma chambre fait 4 mètres de large.
Ma chambre fait 4 mètres de largeur.
My bedroom is 4 metres wide.
Ces baignoires sont longues de 2 mètres.
These bathtubs are 2 metres long.
Ce bâtiment est haut de 30 mètres.
This building is 30 metres tall.
Ce bâtiment fait 30 mètres de haut.
Ce bâtiment fait 30 mètres de hauteur.
This building is 30 metres tall.
measurements
Cette pièce fait 10 mètres sur 4.
This room is 10 by 4 metres.
Q&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
6/01/19
Le trou a 6 mètres de profondeur. -- The hole has a depth of 6 meters.Le trou est profonde de 6 meters. -- The hole is 6 meters deep.
More than one way to skin a cat. :)
Heyes
Kwiziq community member
6/01/19
But this way wasn’t given as a possibility in the lesson.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
7/01/19
This example, however, can be found in the lesson:
Cette piscine est profonde de 5 mètres.
It parallels the second example sentence I posted.
Heyes
Kwiziq community member
7/01/19
M’y question concerne the use of the verb avoir.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
19/10/18
Marnie
Kwiziq community member
19/10/18
Nicholas
Kwiziq community member
1 October 2017
2 replies
why had "6 mètres de longeur" been given as wrong?
Ron
Kwiziq community member
1/10/17
Nicholas
Kwiziq community member
5/12/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
10/01/17
Meghna
Kwiziq community member
10/01/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
12/01/17
I've looked through your history, and the mistake I found was as follows:
La voiture de Jim fait ________. (Jim's car is 2 meters wide.)
You wrote "2 metres" instead of "2 mètres de large" :)
And in another test, your answer was "2m de" missing "large".
I hope that's helpful!
Meghna
Kwiziq community member
6/05/17
Chris
Kwiziq community member
24 October 2016
2 replies
How to express dimensions with faire/être
As you explain, it is either 1. faire + value + de + dimension (noun) 2. être + de + dimension (adjective) + value You say ...faire 1 m de profondeur. But you also say ...faire 1 m de long Isn't "longeur" the noun for length and "long/ue" the adjective? So why is it not "...faire 1 m de longeur" instead of "1 m de long"? To me this looks like expressing depth works different from all other dimensions. -- Chris.
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
24/10/16
Marnie
Kwiziq community member
19/10/18
Robin
Kwiziq community member
7 January 2019
1 reply
this lesson does not advise when one would use either faire or être
Bonjour. I read the lesson. The lesson does not seem to advise when it is appropriate or better to use être or faire. Does it absolutely not matter? Or are there situations where être may be better to use than faire, or vice versa? Merci.
Robin
Kwiziq community member
7 January 2019
7/01/19
Bonjour encore. Further to my question above, I meant to add, could use of être or faire be just a matter of speech, how it sounds in the sentence? Merci.