A fraction tells you how many pieces you have out of how many equal pieces something was cut into. The number on the bottom (denominator) says how many pieces total. The number on top (numerator) says how many you have.
So ½ means: cut something into 2 equal parts, take 1. ¾ means: cut into 4 parts, take 3. Easy!
Cut the pizza to see:
Each row below shows the same-sized bar cut into equal pieces. You can see at a glance that ½ is the same as 2/4 or 3/6 — they all take up the same amount of space. These are called equivalent fractions.
½ = 0.5 = 50%. They all describe the same amount. A half of anything is always a half, no matter what you call it.
When you hear "50% off" in a shop, that means the price is cut in half. When your battery is at 75%, it has ¾ charge left. When a recipe says "a quarter cup", it means ¼.
Fractions are one of the most practical bits of maths you'll ever use — splitting food, reading clocks, handling money, reading maps. You already use them every single day.