How to count sentences online
- Paste or type your text into the box.
- Read the sentence and paragraph count, the total words and the average words per sentence in the first row.
- Check the second row for your shortest and longest sentence and the number of sentences over 25 words.
- Edit the longest sentences listed below the counts; the list re-sorts as you shorten them.
Paragraph counter and paragraph word count
The paragraph count treats every block of text separated by a line break as one paragraph, which is how text pasted from Word or Google Docs arrives. Empty lines are skipped, so it does not matter whether paragraphs are separated by one line break or a blank line. To see the word count of each paragraph separately, use the sentences per paragraph tool, which lists every paragraph with its own sentence and word count.
Sentence length checker
Average sentence length is the number of words divided by the number of sentences. It is one of the two inputs to the Flesch readability formulas, so long sentences lower a readability score quickly.
The counter marks sentences longer than 25 words because GOV.UK’s writing guidelines suggest splitting sentences over that length. It is a prompt to reread, not an error: a long sentence with a clear structure can be fine, but several in a row are hard to follow.
How many sentences is 50, 100 or 200 words?
The number of sentences depends on how long yours are. The table assumes an average of 15 to 20 words per sentence; that range is an assumption chosen for estimating, so measure your own text above for a real figure.
| Words | Sentences (at 15–20 words each) |
|---|---|
| 50 | 3 |
| 100 | 5–7 |
| 150 | 8–10 |
| 200 | 10–13 |
| 300 | 15–20 |
| 500 | 25–33 |
| 1,000 | 50–67 |
Example
Short sentences are easy to read. They keep one idea each. Longer sentences, on the other hand, can carry several linked ideas, but readers may lose track of the subject before they reach the end.
The sentence word counter finds 3 sentences in 1 paragraph, with 6, 5 and 24 words. That is 35 words in total and an average of 11.7 words per sentence. The third sentence is listed first among the longest sentences and stays just under the 25-word mark.
When the count may differ
- Unusual abbreviations followed by a capital letter, such as “Inc. Today”, are read as a sentence end.
- Text with no end punctuation at all, like a chat log on one line, is counted as one sentence per line.
- Bullet points and headings each count as a sentence, because they sit on their own lines.