Count text here, or use the optional Chinese Character Counter for Chrome ↗ while browsing.
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Practise the characters you counted →Open any character to see its stroke order, pinyin and meaning
How to use the Chinese character counter
Type or paste text into the box and the numbers update as you go. The main figure counts only Chinese characters (simplified and traditional); punctuation, digits and Latin letters are included in the total of all characters, so you can see exactly what you are counting.
Nothing leaves your browser. The text is analysed on your device, which makes the tool safe for essays, contracts and homework.
Word count in Chinese: characters, words and sentences
Chinese is written without spaces between words, so a word count in chinese works differently from English. The number that matters for character limits, translation quotes and school assignments is the hanzi figure. A chinese character word count of 800 means 800 written symbols, whatever words they form.
The "space-separated words" figure is for mixed text, for example Chinese with English phrases, where spaces still separate words.
A Chinese word counter for translators, students and writers
As a chinese word counter it helps translators price a job, students meet an essay length and writers keep to a limit. Teachers who ask for a chinese word count almost always mean characters. If you need a word count chinese assignments can be checked against, use the first number, and if you want a word counter chinese authors can use for a quick check, paste the draft and read it off.
Mandarin character counter and Mandarin word count
The same tool works as a mandarin character counter for text in simplified or traditional script. A mandarin word counter based on spaces would give wrong answers, so the mandarin word count here is the number of characters. For a word count mandarin classes might use, count characters and divide by about 1.6 for a rough number of two-character words.
Counting Chinese characters in longer documents
For counting chinese characters in a long document, copy the text, paste it in the box and read the first number. If you want a chinese counter inside every web page, the browser extension counts the characters you select. Whether you type the query as word count chinese characters, character counter chinese or chinese characters counter, this page does the same job. Need a chinese words counter for a list of vocabulary? Paste it with spaces or line breaks between the words.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between characters and words in Chinese?
A character is one written symbol. A word is one or more characters, and Chinese does not put spaces between words, so tools count characters.
Does the chinese characters counter include punctuation?
The main figure counts hanzi only. All characters, including punctuation and letters, is shown separately.
Is my text saved?
No. Counting happens locally in your browser and nothing is sent to a server.
Does it work for traditional Chinese?
Yes. Simplified and traditional characters are both counted.
Ready to practise?
Open any character to see its stroke order, pinyin and meaning
Practise the characters you counted →Explore HSK vocabulary, practise with Chinese exercises, or take a NewHSK Mock Exam.