How to Read Height Measurements

Look for a single apostrophe to the immediate right of a number in a height measurement. This is an abbreviation for feet. If your height measurement is written as 6', for example, it is properly read as six feet.

Look for an quotation mark to the immediate right of a number in a height measurement. This is an abbreviation for inches. This is commonly paired with a foot measurement when a measurement describes a person or another similarly sized object. A height measurement written as 5' 10", for example, would be properly read as five feet, ten inches.

Keep track of any other unit of measurement abbreviations that would be next to your height measurement. Because buildings are so tall, for example, the height of such a structure is commonly expressed in either feet without inches or meters. Meters would be abbreviated as m, so a height measurement of 200m is properly read as 200 meters.