France uses metric for height and weight. Height is read as un metre + cm: un metre soixante-quinze for 1m75. Weight is in kilos: soixante-dix-huit kilos. Feet and inches do not appear in everyday speech.
Updated May 2026
Height
Written
Spoken
Approx
Note
Audio
1m50
un metre cinquante
4 ft 11 in
Cinquante in the spoken form stands in for the centimetres.
1m65
un metre soixante-cinq
5 ft 5 in
1m70
un metre soixante-dix
5 ft 7 in
Vigesimal form for the cm: soixante-dix not septante (in France).
1m75
un metre soixante-quinze
5 ft 9 in
Common adult male height in France.
1m80
un metre quatre-vingts
5 ft 11 in
Quatre-vingts with the s because nothing follows.
1m85
un metre quatre-vingt-cinq
6 ft 1 in
S drops on vingt because cinq follows.
1m90
un metre quatre-vingt-dix
6 ft 3 in
Weight
Written
Spoken
Approx
Note
Audio
50 kg
cinquante kilos
110 lb
Kilo is the colloquial short form; kilogramme is the formal one.
Je mesure un metre soixante-quinze (I am 1.75 m tall). The pattern is je mesure + un metre + the centimetres in spoken French. The written form 1m75 (no space, lowercase m) is standard in informal writing; technical writing uses 1,75 m with a non-breaking space and the decimal comma.
How do you say your weight in French?
Je pese soixante-quinze kilos (I weigh 75 kilos). The verb peser is preferred; faire is occasionally used informally. Kilo is the spoken short form for kilogramme; both are valid, kilo dominates in everyday speech.
How do French people convert feet and inches?
France does not use feet and inches outside of historical contexts (1 pied = 32.48 cm, 1 pouce = 2.71 cm in the old French system, different from the English foot/inch). To convert: 1 ft = 30.48 cm, 1 in = 2.54 cm. So 5 ft 9 in = (5 x 30.48 + 9 x 2.54) cm = 175 cm = 1m75. French people read foreign heights by converting to metric first.
Is it kilo or kilogramme?
Both. Kilo is the spoken short form, kilogramme the formal written one. The Academie francaise lists both. Recipes, supermarket labels, and casual speech use kilo; scientific writing and weighing-scale displays use kilogramme or the symbol kg.
How do you say "she is 1m72" in French?
Elle mesure un metre soixante-douze. Or in writing: elle mesure 1m72. The mesure verb is used for height; the verb avoir is sometimes used too: elle a 1m72.
Sources: Larousse, Academie francaise, BIPM SI brochure, Imprimerie nationale.