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Sentence Counter Count the number of sentences in your text with accurate detection.

Sentence Counter illustration
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Sentence Counter

Count the number of sentences in your text with accurate detection.

1

Paste Your Text

Enter or paste the text you want to count sentences in.

2

Get Sentence Count

The tool automatically detects and counts sentences using period, exclamation, and question mark delimiters.

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Review Results

See the total sentence count along with other useful text statistics.

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What Is Sentence Counter?

A sentence counter accurately detects and counts the number of sentences in any text. It uses intelligent parsing that recognizes sentence-ending punctuation marks — periods, exclamation marks, and question marks — while handling common edge cases like abbreviations (Mr., Dr., etc.), decimal numbers, and ellipses. Sentence count is an important metric for readability analysis, writing assessment, and content optimization. Research shows that shorter sentences improve readability: the average sentence length in clear business writing is 15-20 words per sentence. This tool helps writers evaluate their sentence structure and length patterns, making it valuable for editors, content creators, students, and anyone working to improve the clarity of their writing.

Why Use Sentence Counter?

  • Accurate sentence detection that handles abbreviations and edge cases
  • Instant results with no processing delay
  • Useful for readability assessment and writing improvement
  • Helps ensure consistent sentence length throughout your content
  • Free and requires no signup or installation

Common Use Cases

Readability Analysis

Check average sentence length to ensure your writing is accessible to your target audience.

Academic Writing

Monitor sentence count for paragraphs to maintain proper academic structure (3-5 sentences per paragraph).

Content Editing

Identify sections with too many long or short sentences for better flow and rhythm.

Language Learning

Track sentence construction progress when learning to write in a new language.

Technical Guide

Sentence detection uses pattern matching to identify sentence-ending punctuation (. ! ?) followed by whitespace or end of text. The algorithm accounts for common false positives: abbreviations like Mr., Mrs., Dr., and common initialisms are not treated as sentence endings. Multiple consecutive punctuation marks (!! or ...) are treated as a single sentence boundary. Ellipses (...) are detected and handled as either mid-sentence pauses or sentence endings based on what follows. The tool splits text using a refined regex pattern and filters out empty segments to produce an accurate count. This approach works well for standard English text but may have reduced accuracy with heavily abbreviated technical writing or unconventional punctuation styles.

Tips & Best Practices

  • 1
    Average 15-20 words per sentence for clear, readable writing
  • 2
    Vary sentence length for better rhythm — mix short and long sentences
  • 3
    Academic writing typically uses 3-5 sentences per paragraph
  • 4
    Shorter sentences are easier to translate and localize
  • 5
    If your average exceeds 25 words per sentence, consider splitting some

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q How does it detect sentence endings?
It looks for periods, exclamation marks, and question marks followed by a space or end of text, while excluding known abbreviations.
Q Does it handle abbreviations correctly?
Common abbreviations like Mr., Dr., etc. are recognized and not counted as sentence endings, though very unusual abbreviations may cause false counts.
Q How are sentences with ellipses counted?
Ellipses (...) are treated as a single punctuation unit. If followed by a capital letter, it's counted as a sentence boundary.
Q Does it work with non-English text?
It works with any language that uses standard sentence-ending punctuation. Languages using different conventions may have reduced accuracy.
Q How are dialogue quotes handled?
Sentences within quotation marks are counted as separate sentences when they end with their own terminal punctuation.

About This Tool

Sentence Counter is a free online tool by FreeToolkit.ai. All processing happens directly in your browser — your data never leaves your device. No registration or installation required.