Sentence Variety & Cadence Analyser
Paste your text to see each sentence's word count, plus the average, spread, and variety of your sentence lengths — a quick way to spot monotonous rhythm.
Sentence-length variety
High variety
Coefficient of variation: 96.1%
Sentences
6
Average length
10.3 words
Shortest / longest
2 / 24 words
Variety is measured by the coefficient of variation (standard deviation ÷ mean) of sentence word counts — a higher percentage means lengths swing more widely, a lower one means sentences run closer to the same length. The "low/moderate/high" banding is a general heuristic for spotting monotonous rhythm, not a scientific writing standard, and short, deliberate repetition can be a stylistic choice rather than a flaw.
About this tool
How to use it
- Paste or type the text you want to check into the box.
- Press Analyze Cadence, or just keep typing — the results update live.
- Read the hero label for a quick take on your overall sentence-length variety.
- Scan the bar chart to see the actual rhythm — a run of similar-height bars means a run of similar-length sentences.
Why it matters
Writing where every sentence runs roughly the same length reads with a flat, monotonous rhythm even when the ideas themselves are varied — mixing short, punchy sentences with longer, more complex ones is one of the most reliable ways to make prose feel more alive. Seeing the actual word count of each sentence, not just a vague impression, makes it possible to spot exactly where a passage falls into a repetitive pattern.
When to use it
Useful when editing a draft that feels flat or hard to read aloud, when checking a piece of marketing or blog copy for rhythm before publishing, or when comparing two versions of the same passage to see whether an edit actually varied the sentence lengths.
Good to know
Variety is measured by the coefficient of variation (standard deviation divided by mean) of each sentence's word count — a purely statistical measure of how much sentence lengths swing around the average, not a judgment of writing quality. The low/moderate/high variety labels are a general heuristic for spotting monotonous rhythm, not an agreed writing standard, and deliberately short, repetitive sentences can be a legitimate stylistic choice (for emphasis, pacing, or genre convention) rather than a flaw to fix.
Common questions
What counts as a 'sentence' for this tool?
Any run of text ending in a period, exclamation point, or question mark, split the same way most simple text tools do — it doesn't distinguish abbreviations, ellipses, or other punctuation quirks that can occasionally split or merge sentences incorrectly, so double-check unusual results against the actual text.
What is the coefficient of variation and why use it instead of just standard deviation?
It's the standard deviation divided by the mean, expressed as a percentage — using it instead of standard deviation alone lets you compare variety fairly between a short passage (naturally smaller numbers) and a long one, since it accounts for the average sentence length rather than just the raw spread.
Is high variety always better than low variety?
No — this tool measures variety, not quality. Some genres and styles (technical writing, certain kinds of poetry, deliberately staccato prose) use consistent sentence lengths on purpose, and a 'low variety' result there isn't necessarily a problem to fix.
Why did the sentence count look wrong for my text?
The sentence-splitting logic is a simple punctuation-based split, so text with a lot of abbreviations (like "Dr." or "e.g."), quoted dialogue, or unusual punctuation can occasionally be split into more or fewer sentences than a human reader would count. Review the bar chart against your actual text if a count looks off.