Everyday Grammar - VOA Learning English Grammar for Science and Technology: Prefixes, Measurements - May 29, 2024
May 29, 2024
A lively look at prefixes used in science and industry and how they change measurement units. Clear definitions for kilo, mega, giga, and tera and how they attach to meters, watts, and bytes. Real-world uses include distances to the moon and Mars, power capacity in gigawatts, and storage measured in terabytes. Tips on plural forms for prefixed units.
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Standard Measurement Prefixes Defined
- Prefixes change word meaning by adding size/magnitude information to a base unit.
- NIST lists standard prefixes like kilo (thousand), mega (million), giga (billion), and tera (trillion) used across science and industry.
Maintain Plural Agreement With Prefixed Units
- Keep noun agreement after adding prefixes by making the full unit plural when appropriate.
- Say one kilometer but 382,500 kilometers in distance examples to match singular/plural grammar rules.
NASA Distances Show Prefix Scale
- John Russell cites NASA's estimate that the moon is about 382,500 kilometers from Earth as a real-world example.
- He contrasts that with the average Earth–Mars distance of 225 million kilometers to show scale using kilo and mega.