Count sentences
Counts sentences and paragraphs, and shows your average sentence length.
Press the button and you get the number of sentences, the number of paragraphs, the word count, and the average number of words per sentence.
Why average sentence length is the number that matters
Counting sentences sounds trivial, and on its own it is. The reason to do it is almost always the average that comes with it, because sentence length is the single biggest lever on how readable your writing is.
Plain-language guidelines put the sweet spot around 15 to 20 words per sentence. Below about 10 and the writing feels choppy and childish. Above about 25 and readers start losing the thread — by the time they reach the full stop they have forgotten how the sentence began. Every readability formula ever devised weights sentence length heavily, which is why this one number tells you more than a paragraph of advice.
If the average looks high, you do not need to rewrite everything. Find your three longest sentences and split each into two. That one move usually pulls the whole document back into range.
How sentences are detected
A sentence ends at a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or ellipsis, followed by a space or the end of the text. That covers ordinary prose well.
Be aware of where any such counter goes wrong, because it affects your number. Abbreviations with full stops — "Dr.", "e.g.", "U.S.A." — can be read as sentence ends and inflate the count. Decimals like "3.14" usually do not, because there is no space after the dot. Text with no terminal punctuation at all, such as a list of fragments, counts as one sentence per line rather than none. If your text is heavy with abbreviations, treat the sentence count as close rather than exact.
What people use it for
- Meeting a requirement. "Write a three to five sentence summary." "Abstract: no more than ten sentences." Some briefs specify sentences rather than words.
- Tightening prose. Watching the average drop as you split long sentences is immediate feedback.
- Language learning and teaching. Checking that practice writing uses varied sentence lengths.
- Subtitling and voice. One sentence per subtitle or per breath is a common working rule.
- SEO and content. Search-friendly writing favours shorter sentences, and this is how you check.
For the full picture — characters, reading time, longest word — the word counter covers everything at once, and the reading time calculator turns the word count into minutes.
Doing it without this tool
Word: there is no sentence count in the word-count box, only words, characters, paragraphs and lines. The readability statistics (which include sentences) are hidden behind Options → Proofing → "Show readability statistics" and only appear after a spelling check.
Google Docs: no sentence count at all.
Excel: counting sentences needs a formula that tallies terminal punctuation, which is fragile around abbreviations.
Command line: grep -oE '[.!?]+' file.txt | wc -l approximates it and over-counts on
abbreviations, same as any simple method.
Runs entirely in your browser. Your text is never uploaded — open DevTools, Network tab, and you will see zero requests while you use this tool.
How to use it
- Paste your text into the box.
- Press "Count sentences".
- Look at the average words per sentence — aim for roughly 15 to 20.
- If it is high, split your longest sentences and watch the average fall.
Related tools
Frequently asked questions
As text ending in a full stop, question mark, exclamation mark or ellipsis, followed by a space or the end of the text. That matches ordinary prose closely.
Abbreviations with full stops, like Dr. or e.g., can be read as sentence endings and push the count up. If your text is full of them, treat the number as approximate.
Around 15 to 20 words for general readability. Much shorter feels choppy, much longer loses the reader. Every readability formula weights sentence length heavily.
Yes. Paragraphs are counted as blocks separated by a blank line, and shown alongside the sentence count.
No. All counting happens in your browser and the text never leaves your device.