English has many different ways to say how heavy something is, and the words "heavy" and "light" are also used in idiomatic expressions. Here, we're going to look at some of them.
Heavy and light are adjectives with opposite meanings: a box or a suitcase can be heavy or light; jobs can involve heavy work (for example, on a building site) or light work; you can have a heavy meal (such as fried chicken and chips) or a light snack (like a small salad); and you could wear a heavy winter coat or a light summer jacket.
The adjectives "heavy" and "light" can also describe how much there is or how much of something you do. So, you may go to work in heavy (or light) traffic and the weather forecast could be for heavy (or light) rain. Maybe you know someone who's a heavy drinker or a heavy smoker(= they drink or smoke a lot) - you could also say that they drink or smoke heavily. And maybe you're a light eater (= you don't eat much) or a light sleeper (= you're easily woken up by noise).
You can also use the verb weigh and the noun weight to say how heavy things or people are:
- Before I started my diet, I weighed more than 90 kilograms. Now, I weigh only 75 kilos.
- What's the maximum weight for express parcels?
To find out how heavy things are, you can weigh them (or weigh yourself):
- I think we should weigh the flour. We need exactly 75 grams.
- Did you weigh yourself this morning?
Some people exercise with weights (= heavy objects) to strengthen their muscles and get fitter - this is called weight training. And some people do weight lifting (= lifting very heavy weights):
- She goes to the gym twice a week to do weight training.