There are 16 fluid ounces in a US pint, and 20 fluid ounces in an Imperial pint. Both answers are correct, and which one you need depends on which pint the recipe means. An American pint holds 16 US fluid ounces, which is 473 ml, and a British pint holds 20 Imperial fluid ounces, which is 568 ml. The two pints share a name and nothing else, and mixing them up is the most common pint mistake in the kitchen. This page gives you both tables, the examples, and the rule for telling them apart.
The conversion table
| Pints | US fluid ounces | Imperial fluid ounces | Cups | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/4 pint | 4 fl oz | 5 fl oz | 1/2 cup | 118 ml US / 142 ml Imp |
| 1/2 pint | 8 fl oz | 10 fl oz | 1 cup | 237 ml US / 284 ml Imp |
| 3/4 pint | 12 fl oz | 15 fl oz | 1 1/2 cups | 355 ml US / 426 ml Imp |
| 1 pint | 16 fl oz | 20 fl oz | 2 cups | 473 ml US / 568 ml Imp |
| 1 1/2 pints | 24 fl oz | 30 fl oz | 3 cups | 710 ml US / 852 ml Imp |
| 2 pints | 32 fl oz | 40 fl oz | 4 cups | 946 ml US / 1,136 ml Imp |
| 3 pints | 48 fl oz | 60 fl oz | 6 cups | 1,419 ml US / 1,705 ml Imp |
| 4 pints | 64 fl oz | 80 fl oz | 8 cups | 1,893 ml US / 2,273 ml Imp |
The millilitre figures are rounded to the nearest whole number. The US column is based on 29.57 ml per fluid ounce, and the Imperial column on 28.41 ml.
Worked example 1: a pint of cream for a sauce
An American recipe calls for 1 pint of cream, and your jug is marked in fluid ounces. One US pint is 16 fluid ounces, so pour the cream to the 16-ounce line. If you are halving the recipe, you need half a pint, which is 8 fluid ounces, or 1 cup. The conversion is simple, but the usual mistake is to measure 20 fluid ounces, because someone remembers that a pint is 20 ounces — which is true of an Imperial pint, and wrong for an American one. Always check the recipe's origin before you pour.
Worked example 2: a British recipe and an American jug
An old British cookbook asks for 1 pint of milk, and you measure it in an American jug marked in fluid ounces. An Imperial pint is 20 Imperial fluid ounces, which is 568 ml, and 568 ml is 19.2 US fluid ounces. If you measure 16 US fluid ounces, you will be short by 3.2 fluid ounces — about 40 percent of a cup. For a soup, that does not matter. For a custard, it does. The fix is to convert through millilitres: an Imperial pint is 568 ml, so measure 568 ml, or 19 US fluid ounces, and ignore the pint marks on the jug.
Worked example 3: a pint glass at the pub
A pint glass in a British pub holds 20 Imperial fluid ounces, which is 568 ml, and a pint glass in an American bar holds 16 US fluid ounces, which is 473 ml. That is why a British pint of beer is bigger than an American pint, and why a recipe that says "a pint of beer" for a stew will give you a different amount depending on where the recipe was written. If you are cooking with beer, the difference of 95 ml is small enough to ignore in a stew, but in a bread recipe where the beer is the only liquid, it matters, so measure the beer in millilitres rather than in pints.
Method and source
A US pint is defined as one eighth of a US gallon, which is 16 US fluid ounces, or 473.18 millilitres. An Imperial pint is defined as one eighth of an Imperial gallon, which is 20 Imperial fluid ounces, or 568.26 millilitres. The two fluid ounces are also different: a US fluid ounce is 29.57 ml, and an Imperial fluid ounce is 28.41 ml. That means the two systems do not scale the same way: a US pint holds fewer fluid ounces than an Imperial pint, but each US fluid ounce is larger. The American system is built on powers of two — 2 cups to a pint, 2 pints to a quart — while the Imperial system is built on 20 fluid ounces to a pint, which is why the two pints are so different.
Practical guidance
Remember the two anchor numbers: a US pint is 16 fluid ounces, and an Imperial pint is 20 fluid ounces. If a recipe is American, use 16. If it is British and old, use 20 Imperial fluid ounces, or 568 ml. If the recipe gives millilitres, use those directly and skip the pints. Buy a jug marked in both fluid ounces and millilitres, and use it for liquids; for dry ingredients, weigh them. When you scale a recipe, convert to millilitres first, do the multiplication, and convert back at the end, because millilitres are the same everywhere and the maths stays exact.
Frequently asked questions
How many fluid ounces are in 1 pint?
There are 16 US fluid ounces in 1 US pint, and 20 Imperial fluid ounces in 1 Imperial pint. Use 16 if the recipe is American, and 20 if it is British. The difference is about 95 ml.
How many fluid ounces are in half a pint?
There are 8 US fluid ounces in half a US pint, and 10 Imperial fluid ounces in half an Imperial pint. Half a US pint is also 1 cup and about 237 ml.
How many pints are in 16 fluid ounces?
There is 1 US pint in 16 US fluid ounces. Sixteen fluid ounces is the definition of a US pint, so if a recipe gives an amount in fluid ounces that adds up to 16, you can measure it as a pint instead.
Is a pint 16 or 20 ounces?
Both, depending on the system. A US pint is 16 US fluid ounces, and an Imperial pint is 20 Imperial fluid ounces. The two fluid ounces are also different sizes, so a British pint holds 568 ml and an American pint holds 473 ml.
How many fluid ounces are in 2 pints?
There are 32 US fluid ounces in 2 US pints, and 40 Imperial fluid ounces in 2 Imperial pints. Two US pints is also 4 cups, 1 quart, and about 946 ml.
How many cups are in a pint?
There are 2 US cups in a US pint, and about 2.4 US cups in an Imperial pint. A US pint is 2 cups, which is the simplest conversion in the American system, and the one to memorise first.
Pints at the shop and at the table
The pint shows up everywhere in American food shopping: berries are sold by the pint, ice cream comes in pint tubs, and a pint glass is the standard serving for beer. Note that a dry pint, used for berries and other produce, is a volume of about 551 millilitres, larger than the liquid pint of 473 millilitres, so a pint of strawberries is not the same measure as a pint of milk. Ice cream pints are liquid pints by volume, but because ice cream is whipped with air, a pint tub weighs far less than a pint of milk. When a recipe calls for a pint of a liquid ingredient, always use the liquid pint of 16 fluid ounces, and measure it in a jug rather than counting spoonfuls.