Sentence Counter
Count sentences in any text. Live updating. Handles abbreviations, ellipses, and complex punctuation.
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How sentence counting works
A sentence ends with a terminal punctuation mark — period, question mark, or exclamation point — followed by whitespace or end-of-text. Our counter recognises all three plus line breaks as sentence terminators.
Common edge cases
- Abbreviations — "Mr.", "Dr.", "U.S.A." each contain periods that don't end sentences. Our counter handles common cases.
- Ellipses ("…") don't terminate a sentence by themselves — they signal continuation.
- Multiple terminators ("?!", "...") count as one sentence boundary.
- Quotes — "She said, 'It's late.' Then she left." counts as 2 sentences.
Why sentence count matters
- Readability — average words per sentence is a key input to every readability formula. Sentences over 25 words are hard to parse.
- Pacing — short sentences quicken the reading; long ones slow it. Variation matters.
- Quotas — some assignments specify length in sentences ("write 5 sentences about X").
- Translation pricing — some agencies quote per sentence rather than per word.
Sentence-length recommendations by context
| Context | Average words / sentence |
|---|---|
| Children's books | 5–10 |
| Web copy / SEO | 12–18 |
| Newspaper articles | 15–20 |
| Magazine writing | 17–22 |
| Academic prose | 20–30 |
| Legal documents | 25+ |
Frequently asked questions
Does the counter handle abbreviations correctly?
It recognises common abbreviations (Mr., Mrs., Dr., e.g., i.e., U.S., Ph.D.) and doesn't end a sentence on their period. Unusual abbreviations may still cause off-by-one counts.
Are bullet points counted as sentences?
Each bullet ends in a line break, which our counter treats as a sentence boundary if the bullet contains terminal punctuation.
Does it work for non-English languages?
It works for any language using ASCII period, question mark, or exclamation point as terminators. CJK languages use 。 and ？ which we also recognise.
How is average words-per-sentence calculated?
Total words divided by sentence count. Higher numbers indicate longer, harder sentences.