Syllable Counter
Count syllables in words, lines and whole poems as you type, with a per-line haiku breakdown.
- Syllables
- 0
- Words
- 0
- Lines
- 0
- Syllables / word
- 0
- Reading ease
- —
- Grade level
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Syllables per line
Handy for haiku (5 / 7 / 5), limericks and song lyrics.
| # | Line | Syllables |
|---|
Syllables per word
Syllable counts are an estimate. This tool uses an English pronunciation heuristic (vowel-group counting with silent-e, -ed and -es rules) plus a curated dictionary of about 200 irregular words such as beautiful, poem and rhythm. It is not an exhaustive pronunciation dictionary, and English has genuinely contested words — fire and every are one or two and two or three syllables depending on who is speaking.
How it works
Type or paste text and the syllable counter updates live: total syllables, words, the average syllables per word, a per-line breakdown and a per-word breakdown. Each word is lower-cased, checked against a built-in list of irregular English words, then counted by finding vowel groups and correcting them — a silent final e is dropped (smile = 1), a syllabic -le is kept (table = 2), -ed only counts after d or t (walked = 1 but wanted = 2), plural -es only counts after a sibilant (makes = 1 but boxes = 2), and vowel pairs that are really two syllables are split (li-on, di-et, vi-de-o).
The two readability numbers use the standard Flesch formulas, which both depend on syllables per word: Flesch Reading Ease = 206.835 − 1.015 × (words / sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables / words), and Flesch–Kincaid Grade Level = 0.39 × (words / sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables / words) − 15.59. Higher reading ease means easier text; a grade level of 8 means roughly a US eighth-grade reader. Everything runs in your browser — nothing you type is uploaded, stored or logged.
Frequently asked questions
How many syllables does a word have?
Type the word into the box and the count appears instantly, along with a chip showing that word's syllable count. The tool splits each word into vowel groups and then applies English pronunciation rules — a silent final "e" is dropped so smile is 1, a syllabic "-le" is kept so table is 2, and "-ed" only adds a syllable after d or t, so walked is 1 but wanted is 2.
Can I use this as a haiku syllable counter?
Yes. Paste your poem with one line per row and the "Syllables per line" table shows the count for every line, so you can check a haiku's 5 / 7 / 5 pattern, a limerick's rhythm or a lyric line at a glance. The totals and averages above the table cover the whole poem.
Why do syllable counters sometimes disagree?
Because English pronunciation is not fully predictable from spelling and some words genuinely vary between speakers — fire can be one or two syllables and every two or three. This counter uses a spelling heuristic plus a built-in dictionary of about 200 irregular words such as beautiful, poem and rhythm, so treat the result as a very good estimate rather than an absolute answer.