Sentence counter
Count sentences and the average words per sentence, using the English rules stated below.
Paste paragraphs. The counter uses the sentence rules explained below.
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Sentence count
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A sentence ends at a period, question mark, or exclamation mark when the next clause starts with a capital, a number, or a quote. A final fragment still counts.
0sentences
- Words per sentence
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How to use the sentence counter
- Paste finished prose if you can. A missing period at the end still counts the last fragment, but mid-draft punctuation changes the total.
- Read the large sentence total, then the words-per-sentence figure. A high average is the usual reason a passage feels slow.
- If the total looks high, search for abbreviations that are not in the shield list below, and for web addresses that did not get recognized.
- Open the Flesch Reading Ease page if the next question is how easy the sentences are, or the paragraph counter if the question is structure rather than sentence boundaries.
Where a sentence boundary is drawn
The counter splits on a period, question mark, or exclamation mark when what follows is optional closing quotes and then a capital letter, a number, or an opening quote. The end of the text also closes the last sentence. A period followed by a lowercase word is not a new sentence, which is how “U.S. policy” stays together and how a lowercase continuation after “etc.” may stay in the same sentence.
These patterns are shielded so their periods are not boundaries:
- Titles and short forms: Mrs., Mr., Ms., Dr., Prof., Sr., Jr., St., Ave., and vs.
- Examples: e.g. and i.e.
- Degree abbreviations: Ph.D., M.D., B.A., M.A., and D.Phil.
- Runs of initials such as U.S. or U.S.A. If a new capital sentence follows the run, one boundary is kept after it.
- Decimal points between digits, as in 3.14.
- Email addresses, http and https URLs, and domain names such as example.com.
Ellipses collapse to one mark, so “Wait...” is not three sentences. “Hello?! World.” is two, because the pair of marks is one boundary and the next word is capitalized.
Words per sentence is the word total divided by that sentence total. The word rule is the same as on theword counter: whitespace-separated tokens that contain a letter or a number. A heading with no punctuation still counts as a sentence if it contains a word. That is honest for a draft and slightly harsh for a title. Delete headings you do not want in the average.
Why the count exists on its own page
Sentence length is the lever in both Flesch formulas. If you only watch the word total, you can add a hundred words of short sentences and look “the same,” while thereadability checker moves. This page is the place to see the boundary rule before you trust a grade. It will not tell you that a sentence is graceful. A three-word sentence can still be obscure, and a long sentence can still be clear. Thegrade level calculator is the next page when a style guide names a grade.
Limitations
- “etc.”, “Fig.”, “No.”, and most Latin abbreviations are not shielded. They can add a sentence when the next word is capitalized.
- A new sentence that starts with a lowercase letter is not split. The counter would rather miss that rare case than split “U.S. policy.”
- Dialogue and colons are not special. “He said: Go.” may be one sentence if there is no . ! or ? between the clauses.
- This is not a grammar checker and it does not rewrite the draft. Sentence case only changes capitals.
Questions people ask
Does a line without a period count as a sentence?
A final fragment that still contains a letter or number counts as one sentence, even when you have not typed the period yet. The note under the total appears when the box has no . ! or ? at all. Add the punctuation if you want the split to follow the finished draft.
Why did “Dr. Smith” stay one sentence?
The titles Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Prof., Sr., Jr., St., Ave., and the abbreviation vs. are shielded, and so are e.g. and i.e. The period in those strings is not treated as the end of a sentence. The full list is in the section above, and it is the same list the code uses.
Why did “U.S. Then I left” become two sentences?
Initials such as U.S. are collapsed so they do not become a sentence per letter. If a capital sentence follows the initials, the counter keeps a boundary after them. “U.S. policy” stays one sentence because “policy” does not start a new capital clause.
Can I use the sentence count in a Flesch score?
Yes. Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch–Kincaid grade both divide by the sentence count. Use the readability checker when you want the score, and read the sentence rules here when the score jumps after you add a period.
Does this fix run-on sentences?
No. The page counts boundaries. It does not rewrite them. Sentence case can capitalize the starts you already have, and it will not insert periods you forgot.