What the sentence counter shows
Paste a text and get the number of sentences, the number of words, the average number of words per sentence, and the longest and shortest sentence. A table lists every sentence with its word and character count, and marks the long ones.
How sentences are found
The tool uses the sentence rules that your browser provides, and then joins back common abbreviations such as Dr., Mr., e.g. and single initials, so they do not end a sentence by mistake. A question mark or an exclamation mark ends a sentence, and so does a line break. Where the browser does not provide these rules, a simpler rule based on punctuation is used. A rare abbreviation can still be split, so check the table for short entries.
How long should a sentence be?
Readability guides suggest an average of 15 to 20 words per sentence for general writing. Sentences of more than 20 words are harder to follow, and sentences of more than 30 words are very hard. The table marks sentences as OK, Long (21 to 30 words) or Very long (more than 30), so you can see what to split.
Tips for better sentences
- Mix short and medium sentences, so the text has rhythm.
- Split a long sentence at a conjunction such as and, but or because.
- Keep one idea in each sentence.
- Read the longest sentences aloud. If you run out of breath, shorten them.
Related tools
Count the paragraphs of a text, its characters, or how often each word appears with the word frequency counter. The character count guide covers the numbers behind limits.