US Tablespoons to Metric Tablespoons (tbsp to tbsp)
1 US tablespoon equals 0.9857843188 metric tablespoons (rounded).
How to convert US tablespoons to metric tablespoons
To convert US tablespoons to metric tablespoons, multiply the number of US tablespoons by 0.9857843188. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply metric tablespoons by 1.014420681 (rounded).
metric tablespoons = US tablespoons × 0.9857843188
Example: 10 US tablespoons = 9.857843188 metric tablespoons.
Pints, quarts, gallons and fluid ounces differ between the US and the UK. Units are labeled 'US' or 'imperial' to avoid confusion.
About these units
US Tablespoon (tbsp)
Half a US fluid ounce (14.787 mL), equal to 3 teaspoons.
A tablespoon was once a spoon first and a unit second. Tablespoons entered place settings around 1700, first reserved for soup, and in the 18th century apothecaries used an unofficial tablespoon of four fluid drams, or half a fluid ounce. That is the origin of the modern US definition, which turns the spoon into precisely half a US fluid ounce.
The US tablespoon is therefore 14.7868 milliliters, equal to three US teaspoons, and sixteen of them make a US customary cup. It is often treated as 15 mL, and American nutrition labels define a tablespoon as exactly 15 mL, so the two figures sit within about 1.4 percent of each other. The regional difference that matters is Australia, which uses a larger 20 milliliter tablespoon, so a recipe asking for a tablespoon of oil or baking powder can go wrong when translated across the Pacific.
1 US tablespoon = 0.01478676478 liters (approximately).
Sources: Wikipedia: Tablespoon; NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume; 21 CFR 101.9: nutrition labeling household measures
Metric Tablespoon (tbsp)
Exactly 15 mL, used in most countries.
Fifteen milliliters is the working size of the tablespoon in most of the world, and it is a rounded figure. Older customary values were about 14.8 mL for the US and about 14.2 mL for the UK, and modern UK and US measuring spoons are both treated as 15 mL in most contexts. The tablespoon itself dates to the early 1700s, when it first appeared in place settings for soup.
The 15 mL spoon is a staple in recipes everywhere. Three metric teaspoons make a tablespoon, and 16 and two thirds make a 250 mL metric cup. Australia is the notable exception, using a 20 milliliter tablespoon and counting four teaspoons to it, so a recipe from one country can taste off in another. Check which spoon a cook has in mind: scoops of oil, honey or baking powder amount to a third more in Australia.
1 metric tablespoon = 0.015 liters (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Tablespoon; Wikipedia: Metric cup
Related conversions
- Metric tablespoons to US tablespoons (reverse)
- US tablespoons to liters
- US tablespoons to milliliters
- US tablespoons to US gallons
- US tablespoons to US cups
- US tablespoons to US fluid ounces
- US tablespoons to cubic meters
- US tablespoons to cubic centimeters
- US tablespoons to US quarts
- US tablespoons to US pints
- US tablespoons to US teaspoons
- US tablespoons to metric cups
- US tablespoons to metric teaspoons
- Liters to metric tablespoons
- Milliliters to metric tablespoons
- US gallons to metric tablespoons
- US cups to metric tablespoons
- US fluid ounces to metric tablespoons
- Cubic meters to metric tablespoons
- Cubic centimeters to metric tablespoons
- US quarts to metric tablespoons
- US pints to metric tablespoons
- US teaspoons to metric tablespoons
- Metric cups to metric tablespoons
- Metric teaspoons to metric tablespoons
See all volume units.