Forum: ell.stackexchange.com
Tags: <word-request><verbs><verb-usage>
Title: Verb for how much space a file takes up?
Question: When I was a kid my dad used to say (in Norwegian):   This file  weighs  four megabytes.   Or maybe one could say   This file  consumes  four megabytes.   Or simply   This file  is  four megabytes.   But somehow I'm not sure.  What are some good  verbs  I can use for this?

Answers:
sents: text: If you simply want to say how big a file is, then is is fine.
text: This video is 770 megabytes If you want to emphasize how much space it is taking up, you can use occupy in the sense fill, exist in, or use a place This video will occupy most of the free space on my phone.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/30978/JavaLatte
score: 26
sents: text: What is wrong with take up ?
text: The file takes up four megabytes.
text: Example :
text: One kilobyte (KB) is a collection of about 1000 bytes.
text: A page of ordinary roman alphabetic text takes about 2 kilobytes to store (about one byte per letter).
text: A typical short email would also take up just 1 or 2 kilobytes.
text: Text is one of the most naturally compact types of data at about one byte required to store each letter.
text: In non-roman alphabets, such as Kanji, the storage takes up 2 or 4 bytes per "letter" which is still pretty compact compared to audio and images Definition ('take up') to fill or use an amount of space or time The table takes up too much room.
text: I won't take up any more of your time.
text: Her time is fully taken up with writing.
text: ( Oxford Learner's Dictionary )
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/29924/Alan Carmack
score: 18
sents: text: I think most English speakers say "is" or "takes".
text: "This file is 4 MB" or
text: "This file takes 4 MB."
text: We sometimes say "requires", especially if we're discussing whether the person has sufficient room on their device to hold it.
text: For example when you install new software, you often get a message that says something like, "requires 100 MB, 280 MB available", and then if the "requires" is more than the "available" you get an error message.
text: Or more casually, you might say to a co-worker, "This file requires 3 GB.
text: Do you have enough room for it on your thumb drive?"
text: I've never heard an English-speaker say "weighs 4 MB", though it would make a wonderfully descriptive word for the idea.
text: If you said "consumes" people would know what you meant and would probably not think it incredibly odd wording, but few would actually say that.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/803/Jay
score: 6
sents: text: 12 megabytes are the size of the file.
text: In English, sizes are measured .
text: Some measurements, like weight, happen to have a special verb attached to them, derived from the measurement process.
text: "This potato weighs 200 grams" means that, when you weigh the potato, the output of the measuring process is 200 grams .
text: We have never created a special word for the measuring process of information.
text: Maybe information theorists have one, but it has never made it into common culture.
text: So, if you insist on using a verb, you cannot go more specific than This file measures 12 megabytes.
text: As others have noted, this is not typical usage.
text: Nobody thinks of measuring a file as a process, because the information about the measurement is available without any action on our part.
text: So we simply use the contraction This file['s size] is 12 megabytes.
text: And that's all there is to it.
text: Sometimes the word you are looking for doesn't exist, because nobody needs it.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/14254/rumtscho
score: 3
sents: text: Generally people use the word size for this.
text: For example "What size is the file?" or "The file size is 6 megabytes".
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/40205/bikeman868
score: 2
sents: text: There are so many verbs that can be used to convey the sense the OP wants to.
text: There's nothing wrong with the verb take (up), but the verb occupy is more common and idiomatic.
text: We can also use the verbs consist of or comprise, but the usage of the comorise is more formal.
text: The verb be can also be used as a main verb.
text: So the following sentences are possibe:
text: This file takes (up) 35 megabytes.
text: This is a 35-megabyte file.
text: This file is 35 megabytes.
text: This file consists of 35 megabytes.
text: This file comprises 35 megabytes.
text: However, the sentence
text: "This file occupies 35 megabytes seems more appropriate than the sentence
text: "This file takes (up) 35 megabytes".
text: You can also say: This file has a storage capacity of 35 megabytes.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/9259/Khan
score: 2
sents: text: This is exactly the sort of usage for which the English verb comprise is appropriate: The file comprises 4Mb.
text: I propose, however, that we standarize instead on the elegant Norwegian expression: The file weighs 4Mb.
answer_details: author: ell.stackexchange.com/users/37009/P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
Most English speakers say "is" or "takes", as in "this is a 35-megabyte file" or "this file takes (up) 35 megabytes". There is nothing wrong with "take up".  You might also use "this file comprises", "this file consists of" or "this file size is"...
There is no special word for the measurement of information in English. That said, in order to indicate the size of a file, most English speakers use the verb "is", e.g. "This is a 35-megabyte file/This file is 35 megabytes", or the word "size" in this context. Another way of putting it would be "a storage capacity of". The verb "take" or "take up" can also be used, as in "This file takes (up) 35 megabytes", although "occupy" might be preferrable in some cases. "Require" is also an option, especially if there is the question of sufficient storage space on the user's device. "Consumes" could be used, but sounds a little awkward. The verb "comprise" is also appropriate to describe the size of a file, albeit more formal. "Consists" is a good alternative.