'¿Cuánto mides?' Verbs that replace 'be' for size, duration and price
In English, most measurements go through the verb be: I am 1.80 m tall, the film is two hours long, the book is ten euros. Spanish usually doesn't do this. It has a dedicated verb for each kind of measurement, and the number follows that verb directly: mido 1,80, la película dura dos horas, el libro cuesta diez euros. There is no ser, no adjective like alto or largo after the number, and no preposition.
English speakers tend to translate word for word and produce sentences like soy 1,80 alto or el viaje es dos horas. Spanish speakers will understand you, but these sentences sound clearly foreign. The fix is simple: choose the right verb for what you are measuring. The key verbs are medir (size), durar (time), costar (price) and valer (value).
The pattern is always the same: thing + measure verb + amount. To ask about the amount, put cuánto in front of the verb: ¿Cuánto mides?, ¿Cuánto dura?, ¿Cuánto cuesta?
Rule of thumb: when English says "is + number + tall/long/worth", look for a Spanish verb that already contains that idea. The English adjective disappears, because the verb carries its meaning.
medir gives height, length or any other dimension. It is irregular in the present: mido, mides, mide. For people it means height. For objects, you can add de largo or de ancho to say which dimension you mean. In speech, heights are often said as mido uno ochenta. Note that Spanish writes decimals with a comma: 1,80.
durar states how long something lasts. It is a regular verb. It covers films, trips, meetings and classes, anywhere English says "is X long" about time.
costar gives a price. Its stem changes from o to ue, so you get cuesta and cuestan. Valer means "to be worth". In everyday shopping, you will also hear it used for prices. Its first person is valgo, but you will mostly use vale and valen.
The typical mistake is keeping the English structure:
- Soy 1,80 alto should be mido 1,80.
- El viaje es dos horas should be el viaje dura dos horas.
- El cuadro es mucho dinero should be el cuadro vale mucho dinero.
One exception you will hear at the till is ¿Cuánto es? (How much is it?). It asks for the total you have to pay, and it is perfectly natural. For the price of a single item, though, ¿Cuánto cuesta? is the standard question.
Weight works the same way with pesar: peso 60 kilos. It rarely causes trouble, because English also uses a verb here ("I weigh"). A few more verbs follow the pattern. Tardar says how long something takes, and distar is a formal way to say how far away something is.
Age is different. Spanish uses tener + años, never ser. To say you are turning a new age, use cumplir.
When English says "is" plus a measurement, Spanish uses a verb that already means that measurement and puts the number right after it. Use medir for size, durar for time, costar for price and valer for value. Ask with ¿Cuánto...? plus the verb, and leave out ser and adjectives like alto.