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What is the average number of letters per word?
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The average length of a word varies according to the corpus selection criteria. If we consider the words in the dictionary, the average length will be greater than if we take the words in a set of texts. This is due to the frequency of use of short words which is generally higher than long words. For example, the verb to be conjugated (is) is much more frequent than the word unconstitutionally.

  • Length in use: the average length of a commonly accepted word is 5 characters or letters. In English, the average length of a word is 4.7 characters.
  • Length in the dictionary: the average length of a word in all languages is about 9.16 characters. In English, the average length of a word is 8.23 characters.

The average number of letters per word can vary depending on the language and the type of text (e.g., formal writing, casual speech, or technical content). Here's a general breakdown:

In English

  • The average number of letters per word is around 4.7 to 5.1.
    • 4.7 letters is common in casual or mixed text (e.g., novels, articles).
    • In formal or technical writing, the average can be closer to 5.1 due to longer, more complex words.

Including Spaces and Punctuation

  • When spaces and punctuation are included in the calculation, the average number of characters per word is standardized to 5.
    • This is why the standard typing metric assumes 5 characters per word for calculating WPM.

Other Languages

  • The average varies more significantly between languages:
    • French: ~5.1 letters per word (longer average words due to accents and grammatical structure).
    • German: ~6–7 letters per word (long compound words are common).
    • Spanish: ~5.2 letters per word (similar to French but with shorter conjunctions/articles).
    • Chinese: Typically 1–2 characters per "word" since Chinese characters often represent entire words.

How It's Measured

To calculate the average number of letters per word in a specific text:

  1. Count the total number of letters (excluding spaces and punctuation).
  2. Count the total number of words.
  3. Use the formula:

Average letters per word=Total lettersTotal words\text{Average letters per word} = \frac{\text{Total letters}}{\text{Total words}}