Count words, characters, sentences and lines as you type, with a reading-time estimate.
Calculations happen locally. We do not send your values to our server.
“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” counts as 9 words in 1 sentence, while “It’s a well-known fact. Isn’t it?” counts as 6 words in 2 sentences, because apostrophes and hyphens keep a word together.
A word is a run of letters or digits, so punctuation never counts on its own and numbers count as words. Sentences end at a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, including Chinese and Japanese sentence marks, while decimal points inside numbers are ignored. Lines are counted separately from sentences.
Languages written without spaces between words, such as Japanese and Chinese, cannot be split by simple rules, so those counts are approximations and the character count is the more useful figure. Everything is counted in your browser as you type, and the text is never uploaded.
Paste or type text and the counts update as you go. A word is a run of letters or digits, so punctuation never counts on its own. Apostrophes and hyphens inside a word keep it together: “It’s a well-known fact. Isn’t it?” contains 6 words, because it’s, well-known and isn’t each count once. Numbers count as words too, so “3.5 kg costs $12.99!” has 6 words. The pangram “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” has 9.
Sentences end at a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark, including Chinese and Japanese sentence marks. Decimal points inside numbers are ignored, so a price such as 12.99 does not split a sentence. Lines are counted separately from sentences: three lines of text with an empty line between them report 4 lines. The reading-time estimate assumes about 200 words per minute, a typical silent reading pace, so a 1,000-word article is about 5 minutes; technical text is usually read more slowly.
Languages written without spaces between words, such as Japanese and Chinese, cannot be split into words by simple rules. “日本語の文章です。二文目。” is counted as 2 words because each sentence forms one unbroken run of characters; use the character count for those languages. Word limits set by schools, publishers or submission forms may treat hyphenated words, numbers, citations or headings differently, so check their rules when you are close to a limit. The text stays in your browser and is not uploaded.
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
One short sentence. | words 3 · sentences 1 · lines 1 |
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. | words 9 · sentences 1 · lines 1 |
It’s a well-known fact. Isn’t it? | words 6 · sentences 2 · lines 1 |
3.5 kg costs $12.99! | words 6 · sentences 1 · lines 1 |
Line one↵Line two↵↵Line four | words 6 · sentences 1 · lines 4 |
日本語の文章です。二文目。 | words 2 · sentences 2 · lines 1 |
Punctuation never counts on its own, but numbers do: “3.5 kg costs $12.99!” has 6 words. Apostrophes and hyphens inside a word keep it whole, so it’s, well-known and isn’t are one word each rather than two.
At about 200 words per minute, a typical silent reading pace, so a 1,000-word article comes out at roughly 5 minutes. Technical or unfamiliar material is usually read more slowly, so treat the figure as a rough guide rather than a promise.
Because they measure different things. Three lines of text with an empty line between them report 4 lines but may be a single sentence, and one long paragraph can hold many sentences on one line. Word limits set by schools, publishers or forms may also treat hyphenated words, numbers, citations or headings differently, so check their rules when you are close to a limit.