ENGLISH
REFERENCE

kilometres per hour

compound.
A2 Elementary Oxford

compound. A way to measure speed. It shows how many kilometres something travels in one hour.

compound. A unit of speed expressing the distance in kilometres travelled over a period of one hour, commonly abbreviated as km/h.


SIMPLE

The speed limit is 50 kilometres per hour.

CONTEXTUAL

He was driving at 120 kilometres per hour on the motorway when the police stopped him.

COMPLEX

The winds were recorded at over two hundred kilometres per hour, strong enough to tear the roofs from buildings and uproot ancient trees.

Usage

This is often abbreviated as 'km/h' or 'kph', especially in writing.

Teaching tip

Contrast this with 'miles per hour' (mph), used in the US and UK; 1 mile is approximately 1.6 kilometres.

Pitfall

The speed is 50 kilometre per hour.The speed is 50 kilometres per hour.When the number is greater than one, 'kilometre' must be plural ('kilometres').

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