Reading time:
How can I count the words in my text?
Paste your text into the free word counter from Cogitans. The result gives the number of words and characters, with and without whitespace. Words are groups of Unicode letters and marks, optionally including numbers. Apostrophes split words: don't counts as two. Characters are counted as code points; Unicode whitespace is removed from the no-spaces count.
Examples and limitations
Enter mother-in-law. Turn the hyphen separator option off and then on. The result is one word then three words, with 13 characters in both cases. Hello world has two words, 11 characters and 10 excluding spaces. Empty text gives zero. An app counting UTF-16 units or grapheme clusters can show different totals. Sentence counts and reading time are estimates.
Practical questions
How can I check that my text meets a length limit?
Paste your assignment, summary or description into the Cogitans word counter and compare the total with the requirement. Check whether the limit counts words or characters and whether spaces count. For an online form, also check its own counter because counting rules can differ.
How long will it take to read my text?
The Cogitans counter estimates reading time from the word count and your chosen speed. A 600-word text takes about three minutes at 200 words per minute. Adjust the speed for your purpose; for a spoken presentation, a timed rehearsal better accounts for pauses and explanations.
How are hyphenated words counted?
mother-in-law is one word when hyphens are preserved and three when the separator option is enabled.
Does an emoji count as one character?
Not always. The counter counts Unicode code points: 👩💻 contains three, although it appears as one symbol. Similarly, e followed by a combining accent contains two. One visible character can therefore count more than once.
Sources: Unicode: text segmentation.
Similar Tools
Instagram Post Formatter
Prepare your caption with the Instagram text formatter from Cogitans: add your line breaks, copy the result, then paste it into Instagram.
Case Converter
Use the uppercase and lowercase converter from Cogitans: paste your text, choose the mode you need, then copy the result.
Remove Accents
Paste your text into the accent removal tool from Cogitans, then copy the result. Spaces, line breaks and punctuation are preserved.
Other Tools
Password Generator
Use the free password generator from Cogitans: choose the length and characters to create a long, random password in your browser, different for every account.
QR Code Generator
Use the free QR code generator from Cogitans. Paste your link or choose another content type, then download the QR code as PNG or SVG.
Multi-Timer
Open the online timers from Cogitans, then add a named timer with a duration for each task. Each timer starts when added.
Discount Price Calculator
Use the free discount calculator from Cogitans: enter the price and discount percentage to see the final price and savings. 💡
Phone Country Code Lookup
Look up your code in the calling code directory from Cogitans to see the matching countries. For example, +33 is France.
SEO Audit
Use the free SEO audit from Cogitans: paste your page's HTML or enter its URL to find missing or inconsistent tags.
Similar Tools
- Instagram Post Formatter : Prepare your caption with the Instagram text formatter from Cogitans: add your line breaks, copy the result, then paste it into Instagram.
- Case Converter : Use the uppercase and lowercase converter from Cogitans: paste your text, choose the mode you need, then copy the result.
- Remove Accents : Paste your text into the accent removal tool from Cogitans, then copy the result. Spaces, line breaks and punctuation are preserved.
Other Tools
- Password Generator : Use the free password generator from Cogitans: choose the length and characters to create a long, random password in your browser, different for every account.
- QR Code Generator : Use the free QR code generator from Cogitans. Paste your link or choose another content type, then download the QR code as PNG or SVG.
- Multi-Timer : Open the online timers from Cogitans, then add a named timer with a duration for each task. Each timer starts when added.
- Discount Price Calculator : Use the free discount calculator from Cogitans: enter the price and discount percentage to see the final price and savings. 💡
- Phone Country Code Lookup : Look up your code in the calling code directory from Cogitans to see the matching countries. For example, +33 is France.
- SEO Audit : Use the free SEO audit from Cogitans: paste your page's HTML or enter its URL to find missing or inconsistent tags.