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'Alto due metri': the measurement comes after the adjective

In English the number comes first and the adjective last: two metres tall, three hours long. Italian does the opposite. You say the adjective first and add the measurement straight after it: alto due metri, lungo tre ore. Literally that is "tall two metres" and "long three hours".

English speakers often keep their own order and produce sentences like due metri alto, which sounds wrong to an Italian ear. The rule is simple and works the same way for the everyday dimension words alto, lungo, largo, profondo and spesso. It also works for lontano when you say how far away something is.

Word list
altomA1 tall alto un metro e ottanta = one metre eighty tall altomA1 tall alto venti metri = twenty metres high lungomA1 long lungo cinque chilometri = five kilometres long lungomA1 long lungo dieci minuti = ten minutes long largomA2 wide largo ottanta centimetri = eighty centimetres wide profondomA2 deep profondo due metri = two metres deep spessomB1 thick spesso tre centimetri = three centimetres thick lontanomB2 faraway lontano due chilometri = two kilometres away
How it works

The pattern is noun + essere + adjective + measurement. The adjective is a normal adjective, so it agrees with the thing you are measuring: un muro alto, una torre alta, due tavoli lunghi. The measurement itself never changes. It simply follows the adjective with no extra word in between.

To ask about a size, use quanto with the same adjective, again agreeing with the noun:

Quanto è alta tua sorella?
(How tall is your sister?)

There is a second, equally common way to give dimensions. You use a noun instead of the adjective: due metri di altezza, tre chilometri di lunghezza, un metro di larghezza, due metri di profondità, venti centimetri di spessore. Here the number does come first, followed by di and the noun. The verb is usually avere:

Il muro ha venti centimetri di spessore.
(The wall is twenty centimetres thick.)
The words
Height

Alto is used for people and for buildings, trees and other objects. The pattern is the same for both.

Marco è alto un metro e ottanta.
(Marco is one metre eighty tall.)
Quel palazzo è alto cinquanta metri.
(That building is fifty metres high.)
Length in space and time

Lungo measures distances, and it also measures duration, just like English "long".

La strada per il lago è lunga tre chilometri.
(The road to the lake is three kilometres long.)
È stato un viaggio lungo tre ore.
(It was a three-hour journey.)
Width, depth and thickness

Largo, profondo and spesso follow exactly the same order. You can also join two dimensions with e.

La porta è larga ottanta centimetri.
(The door is eighty centimetres wide.)
La piscina è lunga venticinque metri e profonda due metri.
(The pool is twenty-five metres long and two metres deep.)
Abbiamo comprato una tavola spessa tre centimetri.
(We bought a board three centimetres thick.)
Distance

Lontano works the same way when you say how far away something is. English uses "away" after the number here.

La stazione è lontana due chilometri da qui.
(The station is two kilometres away from here.)
Watch out
Don't copy the English order

Say alto due metri, not due metri alto. If you want the number first, switch to the noun: due metri di altezza.

Remember agreement

The adjective agrees with the noun, not with the measurement: una stanza larga tre metri, never larghi.

Differences need di

A measurement directly after the adjective gives the full size. When you compare and say by how much one thing is bigger, you use più and put di before the difference: più alto di cinque centimetri.

Mio fratello è più alto di me di cinque centimetri.
(My brother is five centimetres taller than me.)

With distance you will also often hear a + measurement: la stazione è a due chilometri. It means the same as lontana due chilometri.

Summary

Italian puts the adjective first and the measurement right after it: alto due metri, lungo tre ore, profonda due metri, lontano un chilometro. The adjective agrees with the noun, the number stays as it is, and you ask with quanto è alto?. If you want the number first, use the noun form with di: due metri di altezza.