Readability Checker

How to improve your readability score

A lower grade level doesn't mean dumber writing — it means clearer writing. The Flesch-Kincaid grade is built from just two measurements: average sentence length and average syllables per word. Shrink either one and the score drops.

1. Split the red and yellow sentences. Find a highlighted sentence, cut it at "and"/"but"/"because", and make two sentences. This is the single fastest fix.
2. Flip passive to active. "The ball was thrown by the pitcher" → "The pitcher threw the ball." Shorter, livelier, easier to parse.
3. Interrogate every blue word. "Walked slowly" can become "strolled"; "said loudly" can become "shouted". If no stronger verb exists, the adverb stays.
4. Swap long words for short ones where the meaning survives: "utilize" → "use", "approximately" → "about".

What the colors mean

Very hard to read — a sentence whose own grade level hits 14+, roughly graduate-school difficulty. Hard to read — grade 9–13, high-school to early-college. Long sentence — over 20 words, shown separately when it isn't already hard. Passive voice and adverbs are word-level flags that can appear inside any sentence.

How the grade is calculated

The classic formula: 0.39 × (words ÷ sentences) + 11.8 × (syllables ÷ words) − 15.59. Reading ease uses the same two ratios: 206.835 − 1.015 × (words ÷ sentences) − 84.6 × (syllables ÷ words). Syllables are counted with a vowel-group heuristic (each cluster of vowels ≈ one syllable, silent trailing "e" dropped) — accurate enough for scoring, not a dictionary lookup.

What is the Flesch-Kincaid grade level?

It's an estimate of the US school grade needed to read your text comfortably — grade 8 means an eighth-grader should follow it. It combines average sentence length and average syllables per word, so long sentences and long words both push it up.

How does the checker find passive voice?

It looks for a be-verb (am, is, are, was, were, be, been, being) followed within three words by a past participle — a word ending in -ed or -en, or a known irregular like written or eaten. It's a heuristic, so it can occasionally flag a sentence that isn't truly passive.

Why are words ending in -ly highlighted?

Most -ly words are adverbs, and piling them on usually weakens writing ('walked slowly' vs. 'strolled'). The checker flags them so you can decide whether each one earns its place. A few lookalikes like 'only' and 'family' are deliberately skipped.

What counts as a long sentence?

Anything over 20 words. Long sentences aren't automatically bad, but they're harder to follow — splitting one into two is the fastest way to lower your grade level.

How is the reading ease score different from the grade level?

Both come from the same two measurements (sentence length and syllables per word). Reading ease is a 0–100 scale where higher is easier — 60–70 reads like plain news writing, below 30 like an academic paper. Grade level translates the same math into a school grade.

Is my text sent anywhere?

No. All analysis happens in your browser with JavaScript. Nothing is uploaded, stored, or tracked.

What grade level should I aim for?

Grade 8 or below for a general audience — most newspapers land between grades 8 and 10. Academic writing legitimately scores higher, but even there, shorter sentences usually read better.