Tool
Sentence Counter
Paste text and get a live sentence count with average length, longest and shortest sentences, and a readability breakdown.
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Sentences
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Words
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Characters
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Avg sentence
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Longest
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Shortest
Count sentences in three steps
No software to install. Works in any browser, on any device.
Paste your text
Drop any writing into the input. Counts update instantly.
See sentence count and more
Sentences, words, paragraphs, and average sentence length, all live.
Use the data
Check readability, structure, or submission requirements.
Live stats
Length distribution
Live sentence count
Updates on every keystroke. See where you stand without pressing anything.
Readability insight
Average sentence length helps you spot walls of text or overly choppy writing.
Works with any content
Essays, emails, articles, scripts — paste any text and get instant stats.
About the Sentence Counter
Sentence length directly affects how readable your writing is. Very short sentences (under 8 words) are punchy and easy to absorb. Standard sentences (15–20 words) work well for most content. Long sentences (over 25 words) require more concentration and can lose readers mid-way.
The distribution chart shows how your sentences break down across length categories. Good writing varies sentence length — a mix of short and medium sentences with the occasional long one is more engaging than uniform-length sentences. If your distribution is heavily weighted toward long sentences, consider splitting some of them.
The tool detects sentences ending with . ! and ?. If a sentence has no terminal punctuation, it is counted as one sentence.
Readability targets: Flesch-Kincaid guidelines suggest 15–20 words per sentence for standard readability. Academic writing sits at 20–25 words. Conversational content and marketing copy works best at 10–15 words. News writing often goes shorter. The best writing mixes lengths — a short punchy sentence after a longer one creates rhythm and holds attention better than uniform-length sentences throughout.
More free text tools: Word Counter · Character Counter · Paragraph Counter · Whitespace Remover
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Use itFrequently Asked Questions
How does the tool detect sentences?
Counts periods, exclamation marks, and question marks as sentence endings. Abbreviations may occasionally be counted as sentence endings.
What's a good average sentence length?
15-20 words for web content, 20-25 for academic writing. Over 30 words often signals a readability issue.
Does it count sentence fragments?
If a fragment ends with punctuation, it's counted as a sentence.
Why is sentence count useful?
Short sentences create pace. Long ones build complexity. A mix of lengths usually reads better than uniform length.