Syllable Counter
Count syllables in any word, line, or poem, and check a haiku against 5-7-5 as you write.
- Syllables
- 0
- Words
- 0
- Per word
- 0
- Lines
- 0
Quick Answer
How to Count Syllables
A syllable is a unit of sound built around one vowel sound. The easiest manual method is to say the word slowly and count how many times your jaw drops, or put a hand under your chin and count the movements. "Wa-ter" has two, "beau-ti-ful" has three.
- Count vowel sounds, not vowel letters. "Boat" has two vowel letters but one sound, so one syllable.
- A final silent e usually adds nothing. "Cake" and "time" have one syllable, but "table" keeps its -le as a second syllable.
- The -ed ending is only a syllable after t or d. "Walked" has one, "wanted" and "landed" have two.
- Watch for vowels side by side that are said separately. "Po-em", "i-de-a", and "sci-ence" split the pair, which is where simple counters usually go wrong.
Words People Often Get Wrong
These counts come from the same dictionary data the tool uses. A range means the dictionary lists more than one pronunciation.
| Word | Syllables |
|---|---|
| every | 2-3 |
| fire | 1-2 |
| hour | 1-2 |
| family | 2-3 |
| poem | 2 |
| orange | 2 |
| different | 2-3 |
| interesting | 3-4 |
| beautiful | 3 |
| evening | 2 |
| naturally | 3-4 |
Syllable Patterns in Poetry
| Form | Pattern | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Haiku | 5-7-5 | Three lines. The English form of a Japanese pattern. |
| Tanka | 5-7-5-7-7 | Five lines, a haiku with two longer lines added. |
| Cinquain (Crapsey) | 2-4-6-8-2 | Five lines that build up and then drop sharply. |
| Iambic pentameter | 10 per line | Five unstressed-stressed pairs, the line of Shakespeare's sonnets. |
| Limerick | about 8-8-5-5-8 | Rhythm matters more than exact counts, AABBA rhyme. |
Syllables and Readability
Syllables per word is one of the main inputs to readability formulas. Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid Grade both treat more syllables per word as harder text, and SMOG counts words of three or more syllables. Everyday English averages around 1.5 syllables per word. To score a whole draft, use the Readability Checker, and see what readability scores mean.
Each word is looked up in data built from the Carnegie Mellon University Pronouncing Dictionary, which lists pronunciations for about 124,000 English words. Words that are not in the dictionary are counted with pronunciation rules for vowel groups, silent e, and common endings. Everything runs in your browser.
Some words have more than one accepted pronunciation. "Every" can be said as ev-ry (2) or ev-er-y (3). When the dictionary lists pronunciations with different counts, the tool shows both so you can pick the one you use.
Type or paste the poem with each line on its own line. When the text has exactly three lines, the tool shows each line's count next to its target of 5, 7, and 5, and tells you which lines need adjusting.
Not exactly. Japanese haiku count sound units called on (morae), which are shorter than English syllables. The 5-7-5 syllable pattern is the usual English adaptation, and many poets writing in English use fewer syllables to keep the brevity of the original form.
The tool shows 1-2 for "fire" and 1-2 for "hour" because the dictionary lists both a one-syllable and a two-syllable pronunciation. Poets use either, so pick the count that matches how you read the line aloud.
No. The dictionary and rules are for English. Other languages have different syllable rules, so counts for non-English text will not be reliable.
Related Guides
Readability Scores Explained
What Flesch-Kincaid, Gunning Fog, and SMOG scores mean and how to improve them.
WritingHow Many Words in a Paragraph?
Ideal paragraph length for essays, blogs, and web content.
SpeechHow Many Words is a 1 Minute Speech?
The 130-word target for short speeches and intros.
Sources & References
- Carnegie Mellon University. The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (cmudict), used to count syllables from vowel sounds in each pronunciation.
- Words outside the dictionary are counted with the open-source syllable package by Titus Wormer.
- All counting runs in your browser; no text is sent to a server.