# Word Counter: Words, Characters and Reading Time

Count words, characters with and without spaces, sentences and paragraphs as you type, plus reading and speaking time. Your text stays in your browser.

Interactive tool: https://lookup.sg/tools/word-counter

## How this works
Words are counted the way word processors count them: any run of characters between spaces that contains a letter or a digit is one word, so “e-mail”, “don't” and “3.5” each count once and a stray dash does not. Chinese, Japanese and Thai, which are written without spaces, are split into words with the browser's built-in language segmenter.

Characters are counted as you see them, so an emoji or an accented letter is one character. Sentences are split at full stops, question marks and exclamation marks (including the Chinese 。！？), and paragraphs are blocks of text separated by line breaks.

Reading time assumes 238 words a minute, the average silent reading speed for non-fiction found in a 2019 review of 190 studies (Brysbaert). Speaking time assumes 140 words a minute, an editable assumption for an unhurried talk or presentation. Change either speed if you know your own.

Everything is calculated in your browser: the text you type or paste is never uploaded, stored or logged.

## FAQs
### How long does it take to read 500 words?
About 2 minutes 6 seconds at the average silent reading speed of 238 words a minute. Reading 1,000 words takes about 4 minutes 12 seconds.

### How long is a 500-word speech?
About 3 minutes 34 seconds at 140 words a minute. A 1,000-word speech is just over 7 minutes; speak faster and it shrinks, so time a practice run.

### Does the word counter count characters with spaces?
Yes, it shows both. Characters with spaces counts every letter, digit, punctuation mark and space; characters without spaces leaves out spaces, tabs and line breaks.

### Is my text saved or sent anywhere?
No. The counts run entirely in your browser and nothing you type is uploaded or stored. Refreshing the page clears the text.

## Sources
- [Brysbaert (2019): How many words do we read per minute? A review and meta-analysis of reading rate](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jml.2019.104047)

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Source: Lookup (https://lookup.sg) · Data as of October 2026 · Listings compiled from Singapore government open data (data.gov.sg), OneMap and Overture Maps places. Free listings never show contact details; contact details appear only on Lookup Verified listings.