Sentence Counter
Use this free Sentence Counter to count sentences in your text and see sentence length, word count, and a sentence-by-sentence breakdown.
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Sentence Statistics
View each detected sentence with its word count and character count:
How to Use the Sentence Counter
Type or paste your text into the box above. The Sentence Counter updates automatically as you type and displays the number of sentences and words in your text, along with your average words per sentence.
The tool also shows average characters per sentence, average sentences per paragraph, median words per sentence, your longest and shortest sentences, the total number of characters, and a numbered breakdown of every detected sentence.
If you only need to count words, use our Word Counter . For more general text statistics, use our Character Counter .
What Counts as a Sentence?
A sentence usually ends with sentence-ending punctuation such as a period, question mark, or exclamation point. Sentence detection becomes more complicated when text contains abbreviations, initials, decimal numbers, ellipses, quotations, parentheses, web addresses, and other punctuation.
For example, the period in Dr. should not normally be treated as the end of a sentence in Dr. Smith. Similarly, the decimal point in 3.14 does not indicate the end of a sentence.
This sentence counter is designed to account for common sentence patterns rather than simply counting every period, question mark, and exclamation point.
Sentence Breakdown
The Sentence Breakdown displays each detected sentence separately and gives every sentence its own word count and character count.
The number shown beside each sentence represents its position in your original text. For example, Sentence 25 will continue to be labeled 25 even if you sort the list and it moves to the top.
You can sort the sentences by Original Order, Longest First, or Shortest First. Sorting by sentence length makes it easier to find unusually long or short sentences in an essay, article, report, story, or other piece of writing.
Analyzing Large Documents
The Sentence Counter analyzes all of the sentences in your text, even when a document contains hundreds or thousands of sentences.
To avoid unnecessarily displaying thousands of sentence rows at once, the sentence list initially displays up to 100 sentences. Additional sentences can be displayed in groups of 100.
Average Sentence Length
Average words per sentence is calculated by dividing the total number of words by the number of detected sentences. This statistic updates automatically as you type.
Average characters per sentence provides another way to measure sentence length by comparing the total characters in the detected sentences with the number of sentences.
There is no single ideal sentence length for every type of writing. Short sentences can be clear and direct, while longer sentences can express more complex relationships between ideas. Most writing benefits from some variation in sentence length.
Median Words per Sentence
Median words per sentence represents the middle sentence length when all detected sentences are ordered by their word counts.
Unlike an average, the median is less affected by one unusually long or unusually short sentence. This can make it useful for understanding the typical sentence length in your writing.
Longest and Shortest Sentences
The Sentence Counter automatically identifies the longest and shortest detected sentences based primarily on word count.
The word count and original sentence number are displayed so you can quickly locate each sentence in the list below.
A long sentence is not automatically a bad sentence. However, a sentence that is dramatically longer than the surrounding sentences may be worth reviewing for clarity.
What Is a Run-On Sentence?
A run-on sentence is not simply a sentence that contains a lot of words. A run-on occurs when two or more independent clauses are joined incorrectly without the punctuation or conjunction needed to separate them.
For example:
Run-on: I finished the report I sent it to my manager.
One way to correct it is:
Corrected: I finished the report. I sent it to my manager.
For additional help, try our Run-On Sentence Checker .
How Many Sentences Should Be in a Paragraph?
There is no fixed number of sentences that every paragraph should contain. Paragraph length depends on the type of writing, audience, subject, and purpose of the paragraph.
Some paragraphs contain only one sentence, while others contain several. Academic writing may use longer paragraphs to develop an argument or explain evidence, while online writing often uses shorter paragraphs for readability.
The Average Sentences per Paragraph statistic can help you see how your text is structured.
Related Sentence and Writing Tools
You may also find these CharacterCounter.com tools useful:
Sentence Counter FAQ
How do I count sentences online?
Type or paste your text into the Sentence Counter. The total number of detected sentences updates automatically as you type.
What is my average sentence length?
The Average Words per Sentence counter above the text box shows the average number of words in each detected sentence.
What is median words per sentence?
Median words per sentence is the middle sentence length after the detected sentences are ordered by word count. If there are an even number of sentences, the median is calculated from the two middle values.
Does the tool count words in each sentence?
Yes. The sentence list displays the word count and character count for every detected sentence.
Can I find my longest sentence?
Yes. The tool displays the word count of your longest sentence and its original sentence number. You can also sort the sentence list by Longest First.
Can I find my shortest sentence?
Yes. The tool displays the word count and original sentence number of your shortest sentence. You can also sort the sentence list by Shortest First.
Does punctuation always mean the end of a sentence?
No. Periods can also appear in abbreviations, initials, decimal numbers, web addresses, and other text. Sentence detection needs to distinguish these cases from actual sentence endings.
Can I analyze hundreds or thousands of sentences?
Yes. The tool analyzes the complete text. For performance, very large sentence lists are displayed in groups rather than rendering thousands of sentence rows at once.
Does a long sentence mean it is a run-on sentence?
No. Sentence length alone does not determine whether a sentence is a run-on. A run-on occurs when independent clauses are joined incorrectly.