How it works
This online sentence counter shows how many sentences a text has as you type, with its words beside them. The sample reads 4 sentences and 24 words.
Read the full guide
What ends a sentence
A full stop, a question mark or an exclamation mark ends a sentence, and so does the end of a line. A heading with no full stop is 1 sentence and each line of a list is 1. A run such as ?! ends one sentence, not two.
Full stops that end nothing
A title such as Dr., Mr. or Prof. does not end a sentence. Neither do initials before a name, U.S. and p.m. in mid-sentence, a decimal point, or the number of a list item. “J. P. Hale wrote it.” is 1 sentence, and so is “1. Wash the rice.”
- Known misses: a sentence ending in p.m. joins the next, and a quoted question before “she asked” counts 2.
Questions and answers
How many words are in a sentence?
There is no fixed number. A sentence can be a single word, like “Typical.” at the end of the sample, or run on for a whole paragraph.
Does the sentence calculator give an average sentence length?
It gives the two numbers for it. Divide the word count by the sentence count: the sample’s 24 words in 4 sentences make an average of 6 words per sentence. No verdict on long or short is given.
Can it check a text against a set number of sentences?
Yes. Put the number in the limit field, 5 for a five-sentence answer, and this sentence counter tool says how many sentences you have left or how many to cut.