Syllable counter
Syllables line by line, and whether it is a haiku.
Output
Paste or type above to see the result here.
Your files stay on your device
This tool runs entirely in your browser. What you paste is processed on your device and is never sent to a server, so it is safe to use with tokens, keys and unpublished text.
Example
Example: checking a haiku draft — and why “fire” counts as two
A first draft, pasted one line of verse per line, with English chosen.
- The check reads: Haiku (5-7-5): line 2 has 8, not 7.
- fire counts as two, fi-er, because that is how the pronouncing dictionary has it; quiet is two as well.
- Drop “The”: Old dog sleeps by the fire has 7, and the check says Haiku (5-7-5): yes, 17 syllables in all.
| Line | Syllables |
|---|---|
| Quiet morning frost | 5 |
| The old dog sleeps by the fire | 8 |
| Snow falls on the hill | 5 |
The count follows the dictionary’s pronunciation, not the spelling: every is 3, family 3, chocolate 2, orange 2. If you say a word differently in your verse, count it your way.
How it works
- Paste the poem or the lyrics, a line of verse on each line.
- Each line gets its syllable count, and the total follows; three lines are checked against the 5-7-5 of a haiku.
- For Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or French, choose the language: the count then follows its metre.
Frequently asked questions
- How are English syllables counted?
- From the Carnegie Mellon Pronouncing Dictionary, which gives the syllables of over 90,000 words as they are said — orange two, beautiful three, and fire two (fi-er). A word it does not know is counted by its spelling.
- What does counting as verse change?
- Spanish and Italian join a word ending in a vowel to the next beginning with one (sinalefa) and count one more after a stressed last syllable; Portuguese counts to the last stressed syllable; French drops a final mute e before a vowel and at the end of a line. English, German and Turkish count every syllable either way.
- Can it check a haiku?
- Yes: paste three lines and it says whether they are 5, 7 and 5 syllables, and which line is off if not.
- Why does my count differ from another counter’s?
- Most counters guess from the spelling by counting vowel groups. This one looks each word up in the pronouncing dictionary first and only guesses for words it lacks, so fire is two here where a spelling guess says one, and every and family are three.
- Can I count a whole poem or song?
- Yes: paste any number of lines; each gets its count and the total follows. The haiku check appears only when there are exactly three lines.
- Is anything uploaded?
- No. It is worked out in your browser, and nothing you type leaves your computer.
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