How it works
The Sentence Counter counts the number of sentences in a block of text, identifying sentence boundaries at periods (.), exclamation marks (!), and question marks (?). It also calculates the average sentence length in words — a key readability metric.
Sentence length directly affects readability. Long sentences (30+ words) are harder to process and score poorly on readability indexes like Flesch-Kincaid. Most readability guidelines recommend an average sentence length of 15-20 words for general audiences. Short sentences create emphasis and improve scannability in web content.
How to use it: paste any text. The tool counts sentences, calculates average length, shows the shortest and longest sentences, and provides a readability grade estimate. The sentence list view lets you click on a sentence to jump to it for editing.
Readability context: a Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of 8 means the text is readable by an average 8th grader, which is the standard recommendation for general web content. Technical documentation can be grade 12+, but marketing copy and landing pages should target grade 7-9 for broad accessibility.
SEO note: search engines like Google prioritize pages that users engage with. Content with short, clear sentences tends to have lower bounce rates and higher time-on-page — both indirect ranking signals. Use this tool when editing blog posts, landing pages, and product descriptions to ensure readability before publishing.
Frequently Asked Questions
- A built-in abbreviation list prevents common abbreviations (Dr., Mr., Mrs., e.g., i.e., etc., U.S., P.O.) from being treated as sentence endings. The list covers over 200 common abbreviations.
- 15–20 words per sentence is the recommended range for general web audiences. Technical documentation can go to 25–30. Marketing copy and landing pages benefit from 10–15 words for scannability.
- FK Grade = 0.39 × (words/sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables/words) − 15.59. It estimates the US school grade level needed to understand the text. Grade 8 is the standard target for general web content.
- Yes. Sentences ending with ?, !, or . are all counted. Ellipsis (...) is not counted as a sentence ending.