Volume Converter
An imperial pint is 20% larger than a US one.
Convert Volume. An imperial pint is 20% larger than a US one. Free, with no account and nothing to install.
1 imppint
568.26 ml
0.5683 L · 2.402 US cups
The traps are all in the shared names. An imperial pint is 568 ml against a US pint's 473 — 20% larger, which is why a recipe halved across the Atlantic goes wrong. An imperial gallon is likewise about 20% larger than a US one. And an Australian tablespoon is 20 ml against 15 elsewhere, which matters for anything measured in spoons rather than weighed.
How the Volume Converter works
Volume between the metric, US, imperial and Australian measures. The traps are all in the shared names: pints, gallons, fluid ounces and tablespoons all mean different amounts in different places.
Also known as: us pint to imperial pint · fluid ounces to millilitres · gallons to litres converter · australian tablespoon to ml
The units that share a name and disagree
A US pint is 473 ml and an imperial pint is 568 ml — the imperial one about 20% larger. A US gallon is 3.785 litres and an imperial gallon 4.546, the same 20% gap. Both are called pints and gallons, and neither name signals which.
The fluid ounce reverses the relationship confusingly. A US fluid ounce is 29.57 ml and an imperial one 28.41 ml, so the imperial ounce is smaller — yet the imperial pint is larger, because it contains twenty of them against the US pint's sixteen.
The history explains it: the US kept the older English wine gallon of 231 cubic inches, while Britain redefined the imperial gallon in 1824 as the volume of ten pounds of water. The two systems have been quietly incompatible ever since.
Spoons, cups and the ones that catch recipes
A tablespoon is 14.79 ml in the US, 15 ml in the UK and most of Europe, and 20 ml in Australia. The Australian tablespoon is a third larger, which is enough to matter for baking powder, salt and anything else measured in spoons rather than weighed.
Cups split the same way: 236.6 ml in the US and 250 ml metric. A recipe converted between them without adjustment is out by 5.6% on every volume-measured ingredient, compounding across the recipe.
The US also has a dry pint, about 551 ml against 473 for liquid, used for produce. Buying berries by the pint means a different amount depending on which measure the seller intends, and the label rarely says.
Where volume is the wrong tool entirely
For anything where the ratio matters — baking, bread, pastry — weight removes the whole problem. It sidesteps cup size, spoon size, packing density and sifting in one step, and it is why professional recipes are written that way.
Medicine is the case where it stops being a convenience question. A kitchen teaspoon varies by a factor of two between examples, which is why dosing instructions are in millilitres and why an oral syringe is supplied with liquid medication.
Fuel economy is a quieter version of the same trap. Miles per gallon in the US and the UK are not comparable figures, because the gallons differ by 20% — a US figure looks about a fifth worse than the identical efficiency quoted in imperial.
Where to go next
The Volume Converter question rarely arrives on its own. These are the ones that usually come with it:
- Baking Conversion Calculator — A cup of honey outweighs a cup of flour nearly three to one.
- Pool Volume Calculator — Measure at the deep end and you overdose everything.
- Camping Water Calculator — A litre weighs a kilogram, which is the whole problem.
- Ring Size Calculator — Finger measurement to US, UK, EU and Japanese sizes.
Frequently asked questions
Is a US pint the same as an imperial pint?
No. A US pint is 473 ml and an imperial pint is 568 ml — about 20% larger. It is why a recipe halved across the Atlantic goes wrong.
How many ml in a fluid ounce?
29.57 ml in the US and 28.41 ml imperial. The imperial one is smaller, which reverses the pint relationship — because an imperial pint contains 20 fluid ounces and a US pint contains 16.
Is a tablespoon the same everywhere?
No. It is 14.79 ml in the US, 15 ml in the UK and most of Europe, and 20 ml in Australia. The Australian one is a third larger, which matters for anything measured in spoons.
How many litres in a gallon?
3.785 for a US gallon and 4.546 for an imperial gallon. The 20% difference is why fuel economy figures in miles per gallon are not comparable between the two.
Why do the imperial and US systems differ?
The US kept the older English wine gallon while Britain redefined the imperial gallon in 1824 as the volume of ten pounds of water. The two have been different ever since.
Which cup should I use for a recipe?
Follow the origin of the recipe: 236.6 ml for American recipes, 250 ml for metric ones. For anything where the ratio matters, weigh it instead.
Why is a US gallon smaller than an imperial one?
The US kept the older English wine gallon of 231 cubic inches while Britain redefined the imperial gallon in 1824 as the volume of ten pounds of water. They have differed ever since.
How many fluid ounces in a pint?
Sixteen in the US and twenty imperial. That is why an imperial pint is larger despite the imperial fluid ounce being smaller.
Is a dry pint different from a liquid pint?
In the US, yes — the dry pint is about 551 ml against 473 for liquid, and it is used for produce. It is a genuine trap when buying berries by volume.
What is a metric cup?
250 ml exactly, used in Australia, New Zealand and many metric recipe books. It is about 5.6% larger than a US cup.
How do I convert a UK recipe to US measures?
Weigh instead, if you can. Failing that, convert each ingredient by weight rather than by volume, since the cup and pint mismatches compound across a recipe.
Why do medicine doses use millilitres?
Because spoons are not measuring instruments — a kitchen teaspoon varies by a factor of two. Millilitres with a proper syringe remove the ambiguity entirely.
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