Sentence & Paragraph Counter
Count sentences, paragraphs, words, and characters in your text with real-time analysis.
Runs in your browser Your input never leaves your device.
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About this tool
Count words, sentences, paragraphs, characters and spaces in your text, and see an estimated reading time and speaking time. The estimates assume 200 words per minute for reading and 130 for speaking, rounded up. Everything runs in your browser as you type. A sentence ends at a period, question mark or exclamation mark followed by a space or the end of the text; decimals such as 3.14 and common abbreviations such as Dr., Mr., e.g. and i.e. do not count as endings. A paragraph is a block of text separated by a blank line, the same definition the Word Counter uses.
How to use it
- Paste or type your text.
- Read the counts and the reading and speaking time estimates.
- Edit the text to adjust length or timing for a speech or article.
Example
Six words at 200 and 130 words per minute, rounded up to whole seconds.
Hello world. This is a test.
Words: 6 Sentences: 2 Paragraphs: 1 Characters: 28 Spaces: 5 Reading time: 2s Speaking time: 3s
How each count works
- Paragraphs
- A block of text separated from the next one by a blank line. A heading on its own line with a blank line after it counts as a paragraph too.
- Sentences
- Text ending in a period, question mark or exclamation mark followed by a space, a closing quote or bracket, or the end of the text. Decimals such as 3.14 and abbreviations such as Dr., Mr., etc. and e.g. are skipped.
- Words
- Anything separated by spaces, tabs or line breaks, so a hyphenated word such as well-known counts as one word.
- Characters
- Every character, including spaces and line breaks. The Spaces row counts space characters only, not tabs or line breaks.
Reading and speaking time
Reading time assumes 200 words per minute and speaking time 130 words per minute. Under a minute the result is shown in seconds; from one minute up it is rounded up to whole minutes.
So 1,000 words shows about 5 minutes to read and 8 minutes to speak. To plan a talk, work backwards: a 5 minute speech at 130 words per minute is about 650 words.
How long should a paragraph be?
There is no fixed rule. Short paragraphs of a few sentences are easier to scan on a screen, while academic writing often uses longer ones built around a single point.
A quick check: divide the sentence count by the paragraph count to get the average sentences per paragraph, then look for paragraphs that are much longer than the rest.
Common problems
- Paragraph count is lower than expected
- Paragraphs are separated by a blank line, so lines split by a single line break belong to the same paragraph. Leave an empty line between paragraphs.
- Sentence count is off
- Decimals and the common abbreviations (Dr., Mr., Mrs., e.g., i.e., etc.) are recognized, but an unusual abbreviation such as Corp. or a URL with a dot followed by a space can still end a sentence.
- Reading time seems rough
- It is a flat words-per-minute estimate. Real speed varies with the reader, the subject and the language.
Frequently asked questions
Why does text with no punctuation count as one sentence?
If the text has no sentence-ending mark at all, the tool counts it as one sentence rather than zero, since there is some text.
Is my text sent anywhere?
No. The counts are worked out in your browser as you type and the text is not uploaded.
How is this different from the Word Counter?
Both use the same paragraph and sentence rules. This tool adds the space count and reading and speaking time, while the Word Counter also shows lines and characters without spaces.