Syllable Counter
Syllables per word and per line, checked against the form you are writing in.
Per-word breakdown
How to use it
- 1 Type your lines
One line per line — the counter treats each line separately.
- 2 Check the line totals
Each line shows its own syllable count in the margin.
- 3 Pick a form to check against
Haiku, limerick and sonnet targets are flagged as you go.
How the count is made
English syllables map roughly onto vowel groups: each run of vowels is usually one syllable. That rule alone is about 80% accurate, and the remaining 20% is a handful of well-known exceptions, all of which are applied here:
- Silent final E — make is one syllable, not two.
- -LE endings after a consonant add one — table, little.
- -ES and -ED usually do not add a syllable — walked is one, wanted is two.
- Diphthongs — ea, ou, ai and friends are one vowel group, not two.
Where the algorithm and your ear disagree
Trust your ear. Several ordinary words genuinely have no settled count: fire, hour, flower and every are one or two depending on who is speaking, and the poets who use them are usually relying on exactly that ambiguity. A counter has to commit to one reading; a reader does not.
Forms it can check against
- Haiku — three lines of 5, 7, 5. The English convention; the Japanese original counts a different unit entirely.
- Limerick — five lines, roughly 8, 8, 5, 5, 8, with an AABBA rhyme.
- Sonnet line — ten syllables per line, iambic pentameter. Fourteen lines.
- Tanka — five lines of 5, 7, 5, 7, 7.
Common questions
How accurate is it?
Where does it get things wrong?
Does it handle contractions?
Can I check a haiku?
Related tools
Other ways to attack the same letters.
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