: Re: When should you convert a measurement in a local translation of a novel? I think that it fits better in certain books to use the local measurement system, but is there a rule about this?

@Odierno164

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If it is a translation for a specific audience, (as the OP says) then I would translate to approximate equivalents, not exact equivalents. unless the tone was calling for exactness. So a gallon is not quite 4 liters, but I'd say 4 liters. A mile is 1.6km, but I'd say "one and a half kilometers", because a hundred meters isn't going to make that much difference to the story.

That's the key, whether the exact measurement makes a significant difference to the story. It almost never does, even if a character says "exactly one ounce" [28.35 grams], it probably wouldn't hurt the story to say "Exactly thirty grams". It's a novel, not a recipe book.

My personal approach in writing (not translation) is to use the metric system in the future, the English system in the past, and always hours, minutes and seconds, and days and weeks. I don't use months, I sometimes use seasons.

At at all times I try to use effort instead of measures: I put distance in terms of effort. A young adult medieval person can walk at 3 mph, a 300 mile walk is one hundred hours; about nine days walking every daylight hour.

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