Haiku Syllable Checker
A traditional haiku in English has three lines of 5, 7 and 5 syllables. Write yours below and each line turns green when it has the right count.
What it does
These tools use the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary from Carnegie Mellon University, which gives the pronunciation of about 125,000 English words, with the stressed vowels marked. Rhymes come from words that are also in the ENABLE word list, without offensive words; rare words are shown in gray.
How to use it
- Type or paste English text, one verse per line.
- See the total and the syllables of each line as you type.
- Check the words marked with ~: they are estimated from the spelling.
Frequently asked questions
How are syllables counted?
Each word is looked up in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, and every vowel sound is one syllable. This follows how the word is spoken, not how it is written: fire has two syllables in most American pronunciations and queue has one.
What about words that are not in the dictionary?
Names, slang and new words are counted from the spelling, by vowel groups with rules for a silent e and endings such as -ed and -le. That guess matches the dictionary for about 94% of common words, and these words are marked with ~.
Are numbers counted?
No. Only words are counted, so write numbers in words (twenty-one) if they are part of a verse. Hyphenated words are counted as separate words.
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary © 1993–2015 Carnegie Mellon University (BSD).
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