Count sentences and spot the run-ons — wordkit flags every sentence over 30 words so you can rewrite before the reader gives up.
The American Press Institute found that comprehension drops to around 10% once sentences pass 43 words. At 14 words, comprehension is above 90%.
That’s why we flag anything over 30 words as a “hard read” — you’re already in the steep part of the comprehension curve and losing readers fast. Anything under 8 words registers as a short sentence, useful for emphasis but tiring in long stretches.
The fix is rarely “make every sentence short.” Great prose varies length — short punches against medium arcs, with the occasional long sentence that earns its space.
We split your text on terminal punctuation — periods, exclamation marks, and question marks — while keeping consecutive marks (like '!?') as one boundary. Trailing fragments without final punctuation still count if they're a complete clause. The detection isn't perfect with abbreviations like 'Dr.' or 'e.g.' but matches what 99% of platforms and word processors do.
For most modern writing, 15–20 words on average. Hemingway sat closer to 14. Web and blog writing benefits from 12–18. Academic prose lives at 20–25. The key word is average — variation between short and long sentences is what makes prose feel alive.
wordkit colour-codes by length: green for short (1–7 words, useful for emphasis), no highlight for medium (8–20, the workhorse range), amber for long (21–30, getting heavy), and red for hard reads (31+, where comprehension drops sharply). Use the highlights as a guide, not a rule.
No — only periods, exclamation marks, and question marks. A clause joined by a semicolon or em-dash is still one sentence, which is the convention every grammar guide and word processor follows.
Yes. Sentence detection runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, logged, or stored — paste a confidential draft without worry.
One click rewrites every flagged sentence into shorter, clearer ones — keeping your meaning. $6/month, cancel any time.