tons/tonnes

[Akubus]

Task 5 - Correct the mistakes.

(4) 330 million tonnes of toxic waste are produced from industry every year.

I wrote the following:

(4) 330 million tons[SUP]1 [/SUP]of toxic waste are produced by the[SUP]2[/SUP] industry every year.

[SUP]1 [/SUP]I did not find the phrase "tonnes" in the dictionary but instead I found "tons". My teacher has crossed out "tons" and (again) wrote "tonnes" instead. Isn't "tons" a valid phrase?
2 I was not sure here, but I think my teacher is right (She has crossed it out and marked it.).

 

[teechar]

I did not find the [STRIKE]phrase[/STRIKE] word/term "tonnes" in the dictionary but instead I found "tons".

Either one is fine. Have a look here:
http://www.onelook.com/?w=tonne&ls=a&loc=home_ac_tonn

I was not sure here, but I think my teacher is right.

Yes, your teacher is right; "the industry" refers to a specific industry.

 

[Rover_KE]

FYI:

1 tonne = 1000 kilograms = 2204.6 pounds

1 ton = 2240 pounds = 1016.5 kilograms

 

[Skrej]

In the US and Canada, a ton is defined as 2,000 lbs. We refer to the 2,204 weight as a metric ton.

You'll sometimes hear the terms 'short ton' (2,000 lbs) and 'long ton' (2,204 lbs).

 

[Lucy Boylan]

In the US and Canada, a ton is defined as 2,000 lbs. We refer to the 2,204 weight as a metric ton.

You'll sometimes hear the terms 'short ton' (2,000 lbs) and 'long ton' (2,204 lbs).

The first work Ton is an older term, an imperial measure. The second one Tonne is a metric measure.

 

[Rover_KE]

But they don't need to be capitalised, Lucy.:-D

 

[SoothingDave]

In the US and Canada, a ton is defined as 2,000 lbs. We refer to the 2,204 weight as a metric ton.

You'll sometimes hear the terms 'short ton' (2,000 lbs) and 'long ton' (2,204 lbs).

No, not quite. There are three different "tons."

A short ton is 2000 lbs.
A long ton is 2240 lbs.

A ton is twenty "hundredweights." In the US/Canada there are 100 lbs in a hundredweight. In Britain, there are 112 lbs per hundredweight.

The metric ton, or tonne, is 1000 kg or roughly 2204 lbs.

 

[BobK]

:up: In contexts where it's crucial to distinguish 'ton' from 'tonne' I've heard the pronunciations /tʌn/ used for the first and /tʌni/ or /tɒni/ used for the second; but my children, educated according to the metric system, automatically assume that a /tʌn/ is a 'tonne' (which I 'hear' - when I read it to myself - as though it were a French word [which it is - although English speakers (including me) give it an /ɒ/ rather than an [ɔ]]).

Akubus, how old (roughly) is your teacher? If they were born less than about 45 years ago, they probably make the same assumptions as my children (as metrication in the UK started in the early '70s. So what you wrote may have been right, and your teacher's correction may just reflect the more modern usage.

Finally, the expression 'tons of' (meaning lots) shouldn't, in my view, be spelt 'tonnes of' (though I've seen that spelling sometimes).

b

 

[konungursvia]

In the US and Canada, a ton is defined as 2,000 lbs. We refer to the 2,204 weight as a metric ton.

You'll sometimes hear the terms 'short ton' (2,000 lbs) and 'long ton' (2,204 lbs).

In Canada, we know of US measurements, but use the tonne; the exception is road transportation, where we use US measurements as well; and, aviation.