Vowel Counter
Paste or type text into the box above and the Vowels, Consonants and Characters cards update as you go. Open Custom Search to count any letter you choose, like the r's in strawberry. Chatbots often get letter counts wrong because they guess; this counts every character exactly.
How to Count Vowels in Text
- Select the text box (it is already focused on a desktop) and type, or paste with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V. The placeholder reads "Paste or type text here…".
- Read the three cards under the box: Vowels, Consonants and Characters. They change on every keystroke, so there is nothing to submit.
- Edit or replace the text and the numbers follow. Select all and delete to start again; the counts return to zero.
It works for one word or a whole book. The box takes up to 1,000,000 characters, and large pastes are counted without freezing the page. At the limit a notice appears: "You've reached the 1,000,000-character limit. Trim the text to keep counting."
What Counts as a Vowel, a Consonant and a Character
- Vowels are the letters a, e, i, o and u, upper or lower case.
- Y is a consonant. It is never added to the Vowels card.
- Accented letters count as their base letter. é, ü, ñ, ç, ê and ể are counted as e, u, n, c, e and e. The letters æ, œ, ø and ı count as vowels; ß, ł, ð, þ, đ and ħ count as consonants.
- Other alphabets (Cyrillic, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Korean), digits, punctuation and spaces are not vowels or consonants. They only raise the Characters card.
- Characters is every character in the box, including spaces and line breaks. An ordinary emoji counts as one.
strawberry gives 2 vowels (a, e), 8 consonants (s, t, r, w, b, r, r, y) and 10 characters.
Count a Specific Letter with Custom Search
Select Custom Search under the cards to open it. Type what you want to count in Characters to count (up to 50 characters). A fourth card, Custom Count, appears with the total.
- Type
rto count every r in the text. Forstrawberrythe answer is 3. - Type several characters and each is counted.
rscounts every r and every s together, so it is a set of characters, not the phrase "rs". - Matching ignores case by default, so
rfinds both r and R. Tick Case sensitive to count only the exact case you typed. - Matching is exact on the character. Typing
edoes not count é, so type both if you want both. - Digits, punctuation and a space all work too, which makes it easy to count spaces or commas.
To count vowels with y included, type aeiouy into Characters to count.
Exact Letter Counts, Not a Chatbot Guess
Ask a chatbot how many r's are in strawberry and you may get the wrong number, because it reads text in chunks rather than letter by letter. This tool loops over every character in your text, so the numbers are exact and repeatable. It runs in your browser, and nothing you type is uploaded or saved. If you need words, sentences or reading time instead of letters, the Word Counter does that.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many r's are in strawberry?
Three. Type or paste strawberry into the text box, open Custom Search, and enter r in Characters to count: Custom Count shows 3. The same word has 2 vowels (a and e) and 8 consonants, and Characters shows 10.
Why can't ChatGPT count the r's in strawberry?
Chatbots read text as chunks of letters called tokens rather than one letter at a time, so they often guess a letter count instead of measuring it. This counter does not guess: it checks every character in your text and shows the exact total, so you can use it to verify any letter count a chatbot gives you.
Does y count as a vowel?
Not here. Vowel Counter counts only a, e, i, o and u as vowels, and y is counted as a consonant. If you want y included, open Custom Search and type aeiouy in Characters to count: Custom Count then gives you the total for all six letters.
How do I count vowels in a word or sentence?
Paste or type it into the text box. The Vowels card updates as you type, with no button to press. A single word, a sentence, a paragraph and a whole chapter all work the same way, up to 1,000,000 characters.
Can I count vowels and consonants at the same time?
Yes. The Vowels, Consonants and Characters cards are always shown together and update live from the same text. The Characters card counts everything, including spaces, digits and punctuation, so it will be larger than vowels plus consonants.
How many vowels are there in English?
English is written with five vowel letters: a, e, i, o and u. Spoken English has more vowel sounds than that, roughly 12 to 20 depending on the accent. This tool counts vowel letters in written text, not sounds.
Does it count accented letters like é and ü?
Yes. An accented letter counts as its base letter, so é, è and ê count as vowels and ñ and ç count as consonants. The letters æ, œ, ø and ı count as vowels, and ß, ł, ð, þ, đ and ħ count as consonants. Letters from other alphabets, such as Cyrillic, Greek, Japanese, Chinese and Korean, appear in the Characters count only.
Is my text uploaded or saved?
No. Your text is counted entirely on your device. Nothing is uploaded or saved, so it is safe to paste private notes or drafts.
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