What source can I find avg. number of letters per word, avg. words per
sentence and avg. sentences per paragraph?

For most all English prose, number of characters divided by number of words
is pretty close to six. Sentence and paragraph length vary enormously
according to type of writing -- 15 and 4 are commonly quoted, but on what
basis I don't know. Google will find you any number of research projects on
applied linguistics, readability, pragmatics, etc. Or just download a whole
heap of texts and test it for yourself.






"jimbo" wrote in message
...
What source can I find avg. number of letters per word, avg. words per
sentence and avg. sentences per paragraph?

Hi jimbo,

If you want this information for your current document, you'll have to
perform the calculations yourself.

For the avg number of words per sentence, you can find the total number of
words and the total number of sentences under Tools | AutoSummarize...
In addition, for the avg number of characters per word and for the avg
number of sentences per paragraph, you can find the total number of
characters and the total number of paragraphs under File | Properties... |
tab Statistics.
Be aware that punctuation and empty paragraphs are included as well.

Good luck,
Cooz
--
PS: If this is a satisfying answer to your question and you're logged in via
the Microsoft site, please click Yes to "Did this post answer the question?".
Thanks.


"jimbo" wrote:

What source can I find avg. number of letters per word, avg. words per
sentence and avg. sentences per paragraph?

Jezebel, Thanks! Could you elaborate a bit? I just started back to school
and I am using word 2003. It reports this type of data but doesn't help with
understanding it. I seem to be writing at a 10.5 grade level. Should I be
trying to write closer to a 8th grade level for readability? Or 12th??
Jimbo

"Jezebel" wrote:

For most all English prose, number of characters divided by number of words
is pretty close to six. Sentence and paragraph length vary enormously
according to type of writing -- 15 and 4 are commonly quoted, but on what
basis I don't know. Google will find you any number of research projects on
applied linguistics, readability, pragmatics, etc. Or just download a whole
heap of texts and test it for yourself.






"jimbo" wrote in message
...
What source can I find avg. number of letters per word, avg. words per
sentence and avg. sentences per paragraph?

Since you have just started back to school, here is "Lesson 1"...

"Ignore that stupid readability score" :-)

To produce the most 'readable" text, pretend you have someone sitting near
you. Turn to them and tell them what you mean. Now, write down what you
said.

That's the clearest simplest way to express yourself!

The reading grade level will rise if you use a greater proportion of long
multisyllable words, and fall if you use a larger proportion of short
monosyllabic words.

Whether this makes the text more or less readable depends upon who you are
writing for. I am a trained journalist. Quality newspapers aim for a
reading age of 12 -- the ones with lurid photographs on page 3 aim for a
reading age of 8.

I write technical books for a living. My FIRST question when sitting down
to write is "Who is this for?"

For an audience of Phd scientists, I use the correct scientific terms for
things and as few words as possible. These are busy people who do not wish
to wade through pages of waffle.

If I am trying to give the same information to an audience of ten-year-olds,
I will use short words, sentences, and paragraphs. However, if the audience
is people for whom English is not their native language, "more words" only
makes their problem worse: I try to use as few words as possible, and as far
as possible use each word with its dictionary meaning, avoiding
colloquialism.

But I always ignore the Readability Score :-)

Cheers


On 4/4/06 9:38 AM, in article
, "jimbo"
wrote:

Jezebel, Thanks! Could you elaborate a bit? I just started back to school
and I am using word 2003. It reports this type of data but doesn't help with
understanding it. I seem to be writing at a 10.5 grade level. Should I be
trying to write closer to a 8th grade level for readability? Or 12th??
Jimbo

"Jezebel" wrote:

For most all English prose, number of characters divided by number of words
is pretty close to six. Sentence and paragraph length vary enormously
according to type of writing -- 15 and 4 are commonly quoted, but on what
basis I don't know. Google will find you any number of research projects on
applied linguistics, readability, pragmatics, etc. Or just download a whole
heap of texts and test it for yourself.






"jimbo" wrote in message
...
What source can I find avg. number of letters per word, avg. words per
sentence and avg. sentences per paragraph?




--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

Fantastic. That is exactly the answer I needed. I started film school at 50!

"John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macinto" wrote:

Since you have just started back to school, here is "Lesson 1"...

"Ignore that stupid readability score" :-)

To produce the most 'readable" text, pretend you have someone sitting near
you. Turn to them and tell them what you mean. Now, write down what you
said.

That's the clearest simplest way to express yourself!

The reading grade level will rise if you use a greater proportion of long
multisyllable words, and fall if you use a larger proportion of short
monosyllabic words.

Whether this makes the text more or less readable depends upon who you are
writing for. I am a trained journalist. Quality newspapers aim for a
reading age of 12 -- the ones with lurid photographs on page 3 aim for a
reading age of 8.

I write technical books for a living. My FIRST question when sitting down
to write is "Who is this for?"

For an audience of Phd scientists, I use the correct scientific terms for
things and as few words as possible. These are busy people who do not wish
to wade through pages of waffle.

If I am trying to give the same information to an audience of ten-year-olds,
I will use short words, sentences, and paragraphs. However, if the audience
is people for whom English is not their native language, "more words" only
makes their problem worse: I try to use as few words as possible, and as far
as possible use each word with its dictionary meaning, avoiding
colloquialism.

But I always ignore the Readability Score :-)

Cheers


On 4/4/06 9:38 AM, in article
, "jimbo"
wrote:

Jezebel, Thanks! Could you elaborate a bit? I just started back to school
and I am using word 2003. It reports this type of data but doesn't help with
understanding it. I seem to be writing at a 10.5 grade level. Should I be
trying to write closer to a 8th grade level for readability? Or 12th??
Jimbo

"Jezebel" wrote:

For most all English prose, number of characters divided by number of words
is pretty close to six. Sentence and paragraph length vary enormously
according to type of writing -- 15 and 4 are commonly quoted, but on what
basis I don't know. Google will find you any number of research projects on
applied linguistics, readability, pragmatics, etc. Or just download a whole
heap of texts and test it for yourself.






"jimbo" wrote in message
...
What source can I find avg. number of letters per word, avg. words per
sentence and avg. sentences per paragraph?




--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410