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So Mt. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain, right?

Mt. Everest is the highest mountain, right? So what is the difference between tall and high?
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The words "tall" and "high" are often used interchangeably to describe the height of an object, but there is a subtle difference between the two.

"Tall" refers to the height of an object relative to its base or surroundings. It is often used to describe human-made structures like buildings or towers. For example, the Eiffel Tower is tall because it stands high above the ground and is much taller than the surrounding buildings.

"High," on the other hand, refers to the distance of an object from the ground or sea level. It is often used to describe natural features like mountains or cliffs. For example, Mount Everest is high because it has the highest elevation above sea level compared to any other mountain in the world.

So to answer your question, Mt. Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain if you measure its height from its base on the ocean floor, but Mt. Everest is the highest mountain because it has the highest elevation above sea level.

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Seems like quite a few people missed the mark here - this one is quite simple:

Tall refers to the length of an object. It is a flat reading of the length of that item.

Height refers to how high an item goes.

The difference in your example is best explained as this - Mt. Mauna Kea is the TALLEST mountain, i.e if you got a measuing tape out, it would be the tallest compared to all others. HOWEVER, it is at a lower elevation than Mt. Everest. This is beause the base of Mt. Everest is higher above sea level than the base of Mt Mauna Kea. 

Thus, despite Mt. Mauna Kea being TALLER in terms of actual feet, Mt. Everest actually is the HIGHEST mountain because it starts at a higher elevation. 

Hope this helps (ha and sorry for the caps, I figured it would make it clearer)!
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And that gives you a vote as the best answer. Keep on answering and I wish you all the best
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Mt Everest (Nepal) has the highest altitude on earth measured from above sea level.

MT. Mauna Kea (Hawaii) has tallest altitude in the world measured from the base below sea level to the summit. 

(Geology.com)
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so what is the difference between high and tall? I need really understand this
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I've read the differences between these mountains from geology.com.  In fact, Mt. Kea is over 10,000 meters tall compared to 8,850 meters for Mt Everest.

I guess, "highest mountain" means, "highest elevation above sea level", therefore, safe to say, "highest altitude."

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When it comes to Mount, Everest, we say Mount Everest is the tallest mountain not highest.

and We use highest for the term when something goes up or for lift or for something moves and the term tall we used for a fixed thing.
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Are we suppose to explain how mountains are tall, or explain the difference between tall and height.
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Tall - it is the length of any object - an absolute measure or can be a relative measure when compared between two lengths.

Height - it is a distance above an origin or a reference. It is applied to objects, particular to the persons when meant to be how much tall. 

Usually for very huge objects from the surface heights is used, and tall is used when comparatively small distance from the surface is to be measured.
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The difference between tall and high is that when you say something is tall you are referring to something which can be counted in numbers like mountains,trees and people and when you say something is high you are specifying how much the something is worth for example when you say this shoes are in high demand these days.
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Tall refers to someone,who is alive like - 'Human being',while high refers to those,who are non - living.Tall means the distance between the top to the bottom is big.
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We use to say tall that something is above average height. High means " Having large distance from top to bottom" . We often use high when we speak about inanimate things ( Non-Living things ). 
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There is a different between them 

Tall- great in vertical dimension or something that line up long 

High- a lofty level or position or degree or a stage that it most big 
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Tall and high are related, both has to describe height of object and that of a living thing. Tall is applied when describing a person's height for example 'a tall man or a tall woman' while high is used to describe a construction building like 'a high building or a high bridge'. 
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The difference between tall and high is we use tall to say that something is above average height. High means having a large distance from top to bottom or a long way above the ground. we often use high when we speak about inanimate things.
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We use tall to say that hat something is above average height. High means ' having a large distance from top to bottom' or long way above the ground.
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when do we use high and when do we use tall?


A bulb's out. the ceiling's too high. I can't reach. we use high to talk about how far off the ground things are. so we talk about high ceilings. we talk about high heels. and we say planes fly high in the sky. 


unicycle is a long off the ground, so is it high or is it tall?


well, the man riding it is high up, but we don't also say the unicycle is tall, because there is another rule we follow. when things are higher than they are wide, when things are higher than they are wide, we say tall. people are higher then they are wide, so we talk about tall people. how tall are you? three meters. here are some more things that are tall.


here the more thing that are tall:

  1. tall trees.
  2. a tall glass
  3. tall chimneys
  4. tall grass
  5. tall statues
  6. tall ladder

when things are shorter than they are wide, we say high. lets look at some things that are high.
  1. high walls
  2. high fence
  3. high wave
  4. high hedge
  5. high mountains

The comcast tower is higher than it's wide so we say it's tall. a window can be both high and tall but the meaning is different. if it's high window. it's long way from the ground. but if it's long way from the ground. but if it's a tall window, it's higher than it's wide. 
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'Tall' is a word that refers to the height of a person or an object.

 'High' is a word that is used to describe the elevation of a something from the ground. '
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The word 'tall' is used when refering to a person with height, it is applicable only to humans and objects, while high is used when refering to an object, it can not be used to describe a human.
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Tall refer to a person . how tall is she?

Height is the physical measurement. It can be 1 feet to 10 feet. Both are maths measurement quality.
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Tall and high could be said to be the same thing normally tall is used to describe a human being while high is used to describe an object or a thing.
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Tall people are 5'9" or taller, while high people are 6'1" or taller.

Tall people are typically 5'9" or taller, while high people are typically 6'1" or taller.
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The difference between tall and high is often a matter of perspective and context. In general, "tall" refers to the height of an object or person relative to its base, while "high" refers to the distance from the ground or sea level to the top of an object.

For example, if you were comparing two buildings, you might say that one is taller than the other if it has more floors or a greater height from its base to its top. On the other hand, if you were comparing two mountains, you might say that one is higher than the other if it has a greater elevation or distance from the surrounding terrain to its summit.

In the case of Mt. Mauna Kea and Mt. Everest, Mt. Mauna Kea is actually the tallest mountain if you measure from its base at the bottom of the ocean floor to its summit, making it over 10,000 meters tall. However, Mt. Everest is considered the highest mountain as it has the highest elevation above sea level, at 8,848 meters. So, in this case, the terms "tall" and "high" are being used to describe different aspects of the mountains.
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The difference in your example is best explained as this - Mt. Mauna Kea is the TALLEST mountain, i.e if you got a measuing tape out, it would be the tallest compared to all others. HOWEVER, it is at a lower elevation than Mt. Everest. This is beause the base of Mt. Everest is higher above sea level than the base of Mt Mauna Kea. 
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other hand, refers to the distance of an object from the ground or sea level. It is often used to describe natural features like mountains or cliffs. For example, Mount Everest is high because it has the highest elevation above sea level compared to any other mountain in the world.
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