“Tons” or “Tonnes”

Language

Tons and tonnes are both English terms.

Usage

Tons is predominantly used in 🇺🇸 American (US) English (en-US) while tonnes is predominantly used in 🇬🇧 British English (used in UK/AU/NZ) (en-GB).

In terms of actual appearance and usage, here's a breakdown by country, with usage level out of 100 (if available) 👇:

Term	US	UK	India	Philippines	Canada	Australia	Liberia	Ireland	New Zealand	Jamaica	Trinidad & Tobago	Guyana
tons	96	46	76	93	63	40	100	55	50	61	66	78
tonnes	4	54	24	7	37	60	0	45	50	39	34	22

• In the United States, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (96 to 4).
• In the United Kingdom, there is a 54 to 46 preference for "tonnes" over "tons".
• In India, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (76 to 24).
• In the Philippines, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (93 to 7).
• In Canada, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (63 to 37).
• In Australia, there is a 60 to 40 preference for "tonnes" over "tons".
• In Liberia, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (100 to 0).
• In Ireland, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (55 to 45).
• In New Zealand, there is no clear preference between "tons" and "tonnes", with usage levels of 50 vs. 50.
• In Jamaica, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (61 to 39).
• In Trinidad & Tobago, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (66 to 34).
• In Guyana, there is a preference for "tons" over "tonnes" (78 to 22).

Examples

Below, we provide some examples of when to use tons or tonnes with sample sentences.

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