Tall or high? Which one do I use?

A student recently told me that American people are higher than British people. After a moment of confusion, I realised that he meant taller. Let’s find out the differences between tall and high.

Tall

Tall (adjective) can mean something that is above average height. It is also the measurement of a person from head to foot.

Examples
He is a tall man.
I am 156cm tall.

Tall is normally used for something that is thinner in width than in height. Things that can be tall are people, animals (I go into more detail about animals), ladders, trees and buildings.

However, you might think that if a building isn’t tall, then it must be the opposite, short. We wouldn’t call a building short, we would say small.

When measuring objects, we can use either tall or high after the specified measurement. Examples are given in the video.

High

High (adjective) can be used for something of great vertical extent. It is often used for something that is quite wide as well as tall (but NOT for people).

Things that we would normally describe as high are fences, walls, hills, mountains, cliffs and ceilings.

Examples
The mansion is surrounded by high walls and fences.
High ceilings are a desirable feature in British houses.

High is also be used to talk about the elevation of an object. That is, how far it is from the ground. Things like clouds, birds, aeroplanes and anything else that hangs around in the sky. Examples are given in my video!

Animals

Animals can be described as either tall or high, depending on the situation. For animals that are measured to the top of the head, it sounds better to say they are (whatever measurement) tall.  But we can also use high with animals especially ones that walk on four legs, because measurements are usually taken at the shoulders (or withers).

Examples are given in my video for animals. Make sure to watch it! I also give you an expression about high horses!

As always, comments can be left under the video on YouTube.

Until next time!