Count syllables in words, lines and whole poems
This syllable counter tells you how many syllables are in a word, a line or a whole text, and shows how each word breaks apart — beau·ti·ful, syl·la·ble — with the stressed syllable highlighted. Lines are counted separately, so it doubles as a haiku checker (5-7-5) and a quick test for ten-syllable sonnet lines.
It is useful for poets and lyricists fitting words to a meter, students writing haiku for class, teachers explaining syllables and stress, speech therapists preparing word lists, and anyone checking readability, since syllables per word drive most readability formulas.
Counting happens in your browser with built-in pronunciation rules, so your poem is never uploaded.
How to use the Syllable Counter
- Paste or type your text. Put each line of verse on its own line — the counter treats every line break as a new line.
- Pick a mode: Free text for plain counting, Haiku 5-7-5 to check a three-line haiku, or Sonnet (10 a line) to check iambic pentameter line lengths.
- Read the total at the top and the per-line table. In haiku and sonnet modes each line gets a badge saying whether it fits or how many syllables it is over or under.
- Look at Split into syllables to see every word divided, with the stressed syllable highlighted and the count in small figures.
- Open Every word for a table of words, counts, splits and the stressed syllable, then press Copy report or Download CSV.
Syllable Counter features
Per word, per line and total
One pass gives the total, the count for every line and the count for every distinct word, plus words, lines and average syllables per word.
Haiku and sonnet checks
Haiku mode compares the three lines with 5, 7 and 5; sonnet mode expects ten syllables and accepts an eleventh unstressed one (a feminine ending).
Syllable splits with stress
Words are divided in the style of dictionary hyphenation and the stressed syllable is highlighted, with a stress pattern (/ and u) for each line.
Handles real text
Hyphenated words, contractions such as don’t, possessives and numbers (counted as spoken: “7” = se·ven) are all counted.
Honest about edge cases
A switch counts words like fire, hour and our as two syllables, and every word shows whether its count came from the exception table or the rules.
How syllables are counted here
A syllable is a beat built around one vowel sound, so counting vowel letters is not enough: queue has four vowel letters and one syllable, rhythm has none and two. This tool first converts each word to sounds with English letter-to-sound rules (modelled on the 1976 US Naval Research Laboratory rules), then counts the vowel sounds. Silent final e (make), -ed after most consonants (jumped), -le endings (ta·ble) and vowel pairs that split (i·de·a, po·em) are all handled by rules.
Common words the rules would get wrong — colonel, choir, business, Wednesday, chocolate — come from a hand-written table of about 1,900 irregular words. There is no full pronunciation dictionary, so an unusual name or borrowing can be one syllable out; the word table shows which source each count came from.
Words people count differently
| Word | This tool | Why it varies |
|---|---|---|
| fire, hire, tire | 1 (2 with the switch) | Often said “fi-er”; many dictionaries hyphenate it as one syllable |
| hour, our, flour | 1 (2 with the switch) | Same diphthong-plus-r pattern |
| every, evening | 2 | “ev-ery” in fast speech, “ev-er-y” when spoken slowly |
| different, chocolate | 3 | Dictionaries show three; many speakers say two |
| poem, poet | 2 | Some accents merge them into one |
Haiku and meter tips
- Traditional Japanese haiku count on (sound units), not English syllables; the 5-7-5 rule is a classroom convention, and many English haiku are shorter.
- Iambic pentameter is ten syllables in five unstressed–stressed pairs: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”. The stress column is a guess — one-syllable words are marked by whether they are function words.
- If a line is a syllable too long, swap a word for one with fewer beats; the Rhyming Dictionary can filter rhymes by syllable count.
- For prose, syllables per word feed the scores in the Readability Checker; to see the sounds behind the counts, try the IPA Phonetic Converter.
Syllable Counter FAQ
How do I count the syllables in a word?
Say the word and count the vowel sounds, or type it into this syllable counter: it shows the count, the split (beau·ti·ful = 3) and the stressed syllable.
How many syllables are in “fire”?
One by this tool’s default and in many dictionaries, but many people say “fi-er”. Tick “Count fire, hour, our as two syllables” if your teacher or style guide counts two.
Is this a haiku checker?
Yes — choose Haiku 5-7-5 and paste your three lines. Each line is checked against 5, 7 and 5 and the summary says whether the poem fits.
Why is my count different from another syllable counter?
Counters use different dictionaries and rules, and words like every, family or orange are pronounced differently by different speakers. Check the word table: words marked “rules” are estimates.
Does it work for languages other than English?
No. The rules are for English spelling; other languages need their own rules.
Is my text stored?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser and nothing is uploaded or saved.