WordCharacterCounter.com

Chinese Words Counter

Count words in Chinese text, not just characters. The counter splits Chinese into words (词) the way a dictionary would, and counts English, Pinyin and numbers alongside.

  • Real word segmentation
  • Runs in your browser
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Character composition

How your text breaks down, as a share of what’s counted.

Chinese words 0%
English words 0%
Pinyin words 0%
Numbers 0%

Word breaks

Where the counter splits your text into words. Highlighted pieces are counted as words.

    Word breaks appear here as you type.

    How to count words in Chinese text

    Counting words in Chinese text with this counter takes three steps.

    1. Paste your text

      Simplified or Traditional Chinese, with or without English.

    2. Read the word count

      Chinese words, characters and the average word length appear instantly.

    3. Check the word breaks

      The word-break view shows exactly where the text was split.

    Example

    今天天气很好，我们去公园散步吧。 has 14 Chinese characters but 8 words: 今天 / 天气 / 很好 / 我们 / 去 / 公园 / 散步 / 吧.

    Try this sentence

    Characters vs words in Chinese

    A Chinese character (字) is a single written unit. A Chinese word (词) is a unit of meaning, and most modern words are two characters long: 学习 (study), 天气 (weather), 公园 (park). Some words are one character (我, 去) and some are longer (共和国).

    Because Chinese has no spaces, counting words means deciding where each word ends. That process is called word segmentation.

    How Chinese words are counted

    The counter uses your browser’s built-in Chinese dictionary, the same one it uses when you double-click to select a word, to split text into words. Punctuation isn’t counted as a word. Numbers count as one word each, English words are split by spaces, and Pinyin with tone marks is counted separately.

    Segmentation is a judgment call even for people: 北京大学 can be one word or two. Different tools can give slightly different word counts, so use one counter consistently when you compare texts.

    Chinese word count examples

    These Chinese word count examples show how characters and words differ in real sentences.

    SentenceCharactersWordsWord breaks
    我喜欢学习中文。74我 / 喜欢 / 学习 / 中文
    今天天气很好，我们去公园散步吧。148今天 / 天气 / 很好 / 我们 / 去 / 公园 / 散步 / 吧
    王小明在北京大学读书。106王 / 小明 / 在 / 北京 / 大学 / 读书

    Characters exclude punctuation. Word breaks can vary slightly between browsers.

    Chinese word counter FAQ

    How many words are in the Chinese language?

    Large dictionaries list several hundred thousand words, and the Xiandai Hanyu Cidian, a standard modern dictionary, has around 70,000 entries. Everyday reading needs far fewer.

    What’s the difference between characters and words in Chinese?

    A character (字) is one written symbol. A word (词) is a unit of meaning, usually one or two characters. 学习 is two characters but one word.

    Why do spaces matter in Chinese text analysis?

    Chinese doesn’t use spaces between words, so a counter has to find word boundaries itself. Spaces only appear around English words and numbers.

    How does the counter handle Chinese names?

    Names are split as the dictionary sees them. 王小明 is usually split into the family name 王 and the given name 小明, which counts as two words.

    Does it work with Traditional Chinese?

    Yes. Word segmentation works for both Simplified and Traditional Chinese.

    Sources and references

    1. Text segmentation, Wikipedia
    2. Intl.Segmenter, MDN Web Docs

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