About Syllable Counter
Type or paste text and the count updates as you go: total syllables, words, lines, the average per word, and a table giving the syllables on each line and in each word. With exactly three lines it also says whether they fit the 5-7-5 haiku pattern. One thing to know before you rely on it: the counts are worked out from spelling by a set of rules, not looked up in a pronouncing dictionary. English spelling is irregular, so a rule-based count is an estimate. It is right for the great majority of everyday words and wrong for some, and the word table is there so you can spot and correct those by ear.
How many syllables are in these common words?
The count this tool gives for words people often look up, with the usual split.
| Word | Syllables counted | Split |
|---|---|---|
| beautiful | 3 | beau-ti-ful |
| poem | 2 | po-em |
| poetry | 3 | po-et-ry |
| people | 2 | peo-ple |
| orange | 2 | or-ange |
| quiet | 2 | qui-et |
| science | 2 | sci-ence |
| idea | 3 | i-de-a |
| area | 3 | ar-e-a |
| rhythm | 2 | rhy-thm |
| business | 2 | busi-ness |
| squirrel | 2 | squir-rel |
| flower | 2 | flow-er |
| world | 1 | world |
| girl | 1 | girl |
| really | 2 | real-ly |
| syllable | 3 | syl-la-ble |
| haiku | 2 | hai-ku |
| February | 4 | Feb-ru-ar-y |
| readability | 5 | read-a-bil-i-ty |
The counts are the tool's output. The splits are written by hand to show where the breaks fall; the tool reports numbers only and does not hyphenate words.
Counting syllables in a haiku, a tanka and a line of verse
A haiku that fits
Morning light returns / the river carries its song / under silent trees (three lines)
17 syllables, 11 words, 5 / 7 / 5. Haiku check: Yes, 5-7-5
A three-line poem that does not fit
Autumn moonlight / a worm digs silently / into the chestnut
15 syllables, 4 / 6 / 5. Haiku check: No, 4-6-5
Many translated and modern haiku do not keep 5-7-5. The check reports the pattern; it does not judge the poem.
A five-line tanka
Winter rain falls slow / across the empty garden / small birds wait for light / I listen from the doorway / holding a cup of warm tea
31 syllables, 24 words, 5 / 7 / 5 / 7 / 7. Haiku check: Yes, 5-7-5-7-7
Two lines of iambic pentameter
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate
20 syllables, 10 / 10
Ten syllables a line is what pentameter expects.
A sentence with numbers in it
I am 21 years old
4 syllables, 4 words, with a note that 1 number written in digits was skipped
Written as twenty-one, the number counts as two words and 3 syllables.
The rules the count is based on
Each word is lower-cased, accents are removed and anything that is not a letter is dropped. Then, in order:
- A short list of common words that break the rules is checked first, for example idea (3), poem (2), people (2), business (2) and Wednesday (2).
- Any other word of three letters or fewer counts as one syllable.
- Silent endings are removed: the e in make and smile, the es in makes and miles, the ed in jumped and smiled.
- Sounded endings are kept: the es in boxes, wishes and faces, the ed in wanted and needed, the le in table and little, the re in acre and centre.
- A silent e inside a word is dropped before -ly, -ful, -less, -ness and -ment, so lovely, careful and movement count as two.
- Vowel pairs that are usually two sounds are split: the ia in dial, the io in violet and radio, the ua in usual, the ue in fuel, the eo in video, the ie in quiet, and a vowel before -ing as in being and trying.
- The letters qu count as a consonant, so queen and quite are one syllable.
- Each remaining run of one or two vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u, y) counts as one syllable.
- One is added for an ending with no vowel letter that is still a syllable: rhythm, prism, didn't, wasn't.
Words this counter gets wrong, or that have two accepted counts
These were each run through the tool. The first group are plain misses. The second group are words where careful speech and everyday speech differ, so either count can be defended.
| Word | Tool says | Usual count | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| colonel | 3 | 2 | Said "ker-nel"; the spelling gives no clue |
| karaoke | 2 | 4 | Borrowed word; the final e is sounded |
| ukulele | 3 | 4 | Borrowed word; the final e is sounded |
| zoology | 3 | 4 | The two o's are separate sounds |
| oasis | 2 | 3 | o and a are separate sounds |
| coincide | 2 | 3 | o and i are separate sounds |
| onomatopoeia | 7 | 6 | A run of four vowel letters |
| USA, TV | 1 each | 3 and 2 | Abbreviations are read as words, not letter by letter |
| interesting | 4 | 3 or 4 | in-ter-est-ing or in-trest-ing |
| diamond | 3 | 2 or 3 | di-a-mond or dia-mond |
| prayer | 2 | 1 or 2 | Often one syllable when it means the words said |
| comfortable | 4 | 3 or 4 | com-fort-a-ble or comf-ta-ble |
| vegetable | 4 | 3 or 4 | veg-e-ta-ble or veg-ta-ble |
| caramel | 3 | 2 or 3 | car-a-mel or car-mel |
| fire, hour | 1 each | 1 or 2 | Many speakers add a second beat |
Names are a further weak spot. Juliet is counted as 3, yet the verse line it is famous from needs it as 2.
Why counting English syllables by rule is approximate
A syllable is a unit of sound, and English spelling records sound loosely. The same letters stand for different numbers of syllables in different words: ea is one sound in bread and two in create; ed is silent in jumped and sounded in wanted; a final e is silent in smile and sounded in recipe. No short set of spelling rules covers all of it, which is why dictionaries list pronunciations word by word.
A rule-based count is still useful because the exceptions are a minority and the errors are almost always off by one. For a full paragraph the total is close, and for a line of verse you can check the handful of words involved by ear. Treat the result the way you would treat a spell checker: fast, mostly right, and worth a second look where it matters.
When we checked the rules against a list of 238 words chosen to include both everyday and awkward cases, 231 came out with the dictionary count, and 38 of 39 well-known lines of metrical verse matched the count their metre requires. That list was also used to tune the rules, so expect a somewhat lower rate on text full of names, technical terms or borrowed words.
Regional speech changes the answer too. Words such as fire, hour, real, towel and jewelry gain or lose a syllable between accents. Where a poem depends on it, your own pronunciation is the right one, not the tool's.
What is and is not counted
- A word is a run of letters. Apostrophes inside a word are kept, so don't and it's are one word each.
- Hyphens split words: well-known is counted as well and known, twenty-one as twenty and one.
- Numbers written in digits are skipped and reported in a note. Spell them out to include them.
- Accented letters are treated as their plain letter, so café counts the same as cafe (2).
- Words in non-Latin scripts cannot be counted and are reported in the note.
- Blank lines are ignored, so a haiku with a gap between lines is still read as three lines.
- The rules are for English. Text in other languages will be counted, but not reliably.
- The word table lists up to 300 different words and the line table up to 200 lines; the totals always cover the whole text.
How to get your result
- 1
Type or paste into Text. Put each line of a poem on its own line; blank lines are ignored.
- 2
Read Syllables for the total and Syllables per line for the count on each line, for example 5 / 7 / 5.
- 3
Check Haiku check: with three lines it tests 5-7-5, with five lines it tests the 5-7-5-7-7 tanka pattern.
- 4
Open the Word by word table and scan for any count that sounds wrong when you say the word aloud.
- 5
Change Word list order to Most syllables first to find the long words, or Alphabetical to look one up.