The Quick Answer
Read the longest line first, then count the smaller marks.
The numbered lines are whole inches. The next-longest marks are halves, then quarters, eighths, and finally sixteenths. Find the last whole inch, then identify which smaller mark your object reaches.
Metric to Tape Converter
Working with plans in mm or cm? Convert them to the closest tape measure fraction.
Interactive Practice Tool
Drag the slider below or click a quick-jump button to master reading the fractions.
This is a sixteenth-inch (1/16) mark. It is the shortest, most common tiny line on a standard tape.
Quick Jump Practice
Start with the big lines
The tape measure number tells you the whole inch.
Every large printed number marks a full inch. If the edge of your board lands after the 5 but before the 6, your measurement is five inches plus a fraction. The smaller marks between those two numbers tell you exactly which fraction to add.
A tape measure mark hierarchy
- 1/16 inch
- 1/8 inch
- 1/4 inch
- 1/2 inch
- 1 whole inch
The longer a tick mark is, the larger the fraction it represents.
The Fraction Pattern
Think of each inch as 16 small steps.
On a standard tape measure, the smallest common marks divide one inch into 16 equal parts. Count from the last full-inch mark: 3/16 is the third small tick, 5/16 is the fifth, 3/8 equals 6/16, 7/16 is the seventh, 5/8 equals 10/16, and 11/16 is the eleventh small tick.
Metric Side
How to read millimeters and centimeters.
The metric scale is often the easier side to read. The numbered marks are centimeters, and there are 10 small millimeter marks between each centimeter. A length of 2.2 cm is 22 mm, which is about 0.87 inches. Use the metric side whenever a project calls for millimeters or centimeters.
Worked Example
What does 5 5/8 mean on a tape measure?
Start at the large 5-inch line. Then move forward to the 5/8 mark, which is the second eighth-inch line after 5 1/2, or the tenth sixteenth mark after the 5-inch line. Say it aloud as “five and five eighths inches.”
Fast Fraction Reference
- 3/16 third tiny mark after a whole inch
- 3/8 sixth tiny mark, or the third eighth mark
- 7/16 seventh tiny mark after a whole inch
- 13/16 thirteenth tiny mark after a whole inch
Mara’s Bench Note
You do not need to memorize every mark at once.
Practice by finding one-half, one-quarter, and one-eighth first. Once those feel familiar, the sixteenth marks become simple counting. Slow, careful measuring is the kind that makes projects fit.
