How to use it
- Paste or type your text in the box, or open a .txt file from your device.
- Read the sentence count and the average words per sentence in the first tiles.
- Check the longest sentence under All statistics to find one worth splitting.
- Use Copy summary to copy every count as a plain text block.
How sentences are detected
A sentence ends at a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark followed by a space and a new sentence, at the end of the text, or at a line break. The examples below are counted by the tool itself.
| Text | Sentences | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Lee arrived. She sat down. | 2 | common abbreviations such as Dr. do not end a sentence |
| Prices rose 3.5% in May. Then they fell. | 2 | a decimal point does not end a sentence |
| Visit a capital, e.g. Paris. Book early. | 2 | e.g. and i.e. do not end a sentence |
| Wait... what happened? | 1 | an ellipsis followed by a lowercase word does not end a sentence |
| She said "Go." He went. | 2 | a closing quote after the full stop stays with its sentence |
| No full stop at the end | 1 | text without final punctuation still counts as a sentence |
- These abbreviations do not end a sentence: Mr., Mrs., Ms., Mx., Dr., Prof., Sr., Jr., St., Mt., vs., cf., approx., e.g., i.e.. Single capital initials, such as the J. in J. K. Rowling, do not either.
- A full stop inside a number, such as 3.5, does not end a sentence.
- A closing quote or bracket after the punctuation stays with its sentence.
- Text without final punctuation still counts as a sentence.
- A line break ends a sentence, so headings and list items count as sentences of their own.
- Chinese and Japanese full stops (。) end a sentence without a following space.
- A segment with no letters or digits, such as a row of dots or an emoji, is not a sentence.
Where any sentence counter can be wrong
Punctuation is ambiguous, so every counter guesses in some cases. An abbreviation that is not on the list, such as etc., ends the sentence when a capitalised word follows it, and a sentence that really does end with Dr. or e.g. is joined to the next one.
An ellipsis ends a sentence only when the next word starts with a capital letter. Lines without punctuation, such as headings and list items, each count as one sentence.
Average sentence length and readability
Average sentence length is the word count divided by the sentence count. Shorter sentences are often easier to follow, but there is no single right length: it depends on the reader, the topic and the format.
Readability formulas combine sentence length with word length or syllables. This page shows the inputs rather than a score, so you can judge the text with your own readers in mind.
Notes
- Words are counted with the same rules as the word counter, so the two pages always agree.
- Sentences in languages other than English use the same punctuation rules, which work for most scripts that mark sentence ends.
More text counters
Frequently asked questions
Does Dr. or e.g. end a sentence?
No. Common abbreviations such as Dr., Mr., e.g. and i.e., and single initials such as J., are treated as part of the sentence.
Do headings and list items count as sentences?
Yes, when they sit on their own line. A line break ends a sentence even without punctuation.
How is average sentence length calculated?
It is the number of words divided by the number of sentences, shown to one decimal place.
Why is my sentence count different in another tool?
Tools differ on abbreviations, ellipses, decimals and line breaks. The rules used here are listed on this page with examples.
Is there an ideal sentence length?
No single figure suits every text. Shorter sentences are often easier to scan, so the longest sentence is shown to help you find ones worth splitting.