Free readability assessment tools to help you write for your readers
Reading Levels | Grade Levels | Word Usage | Reader Profiles
Readability Formulas
Dale-Chall Readability Calculator
Count hard words by : Syllables
Hard words in these categories are easy: Proper Nouns [ ? ]Count hard words based on syllable count (most common). A hard word is 3 or more syllables. X
OR Characters [ ? ]Count hard words based on character count (least common). A hard word has 3 or more syllables and over 9 characters. X
[ ? ]Make all Proper Nouns easy words. Ex: "Baltimore" (hard word → easy word) | Ex: "Johnathan McDonald" (hard words → easy words). We underline these words in pink or green dots. X
Inflected Words [ ? ]Words that became hard words through inflections are easy again. Ex: "happily" (hard word) → "happy" (easy word) | Ex: "sentences" (hard word) → "sentence" (easy word). We underline these words in pink or green dots. X
Dale-Chall Words [ ? ]Any hard word found on Dale-Chall's 3000 word list is considered easy. We underline these words in pink or green dots. X
Common Sight Words [ ? ]Any hard word found on Edward Fry's 1000 common Sight Words list is considered easy. We underline these words in pink or green dots. X
Repeat Words [ ? ]Hard words that repeat after their first instance are made easy. (Readers learn the hard word and can now understand it in the rest of the text.) We underline these words in pink or green dots. X
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Select the following readability formula
or let us help you choose [ ? ]
Select the following readability formula
or let us help you choose [ ? ]
Word List Based
New Dale-Chall Readability Formula×(Close)
Dale-Chall Readability Formula
The Dale-Chall Readability Formula calculates a U.S. grade level based on the number of difficult words with average sentence length. Using its wordlist of familiar words, the formula will let you know if your text is too difficult to read within this age group. We score your text using both the original and updated Dale-Chall Formulas.
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Name | Dale-Chall Readability Formula |
| Purpose | Measures how easy or hard a text is to understand. |
| Developed By | Edgar Dale and Jeanne Chall. |
| Main Components |
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| Original Formula | Score=0.1579 × (Percentage of Hard Words) + 0.0496 × (Average Sentence Length) Add 3.6365 to the score if the percentage of hard words is above 5%. |
| Grade Level Interpretation |
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| Uses |
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| Benefits |
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| Example | A passage with 100 words, 10 hard words, and an average sentence length of 20 words. Calculate the score to find the reading level. |
Is my text too difficult to read?
Score any type of text ...
Score any type of text ...
Our Readability Scoring System will analyze English-language text and score the "reading ease" or "reading difficulty" of your text based on popular readability formulas. You'll find out the type of readers who are most likely to understand your text, including their grade level and age.
1. GET STARTED
Paste your text into the text area or upload a .txt, .pdf, MS-Word, or html file from your computer. For other documents, copy the text to your device's clipboard, then paste into the text area.
2. FOR BEST RESULTS
Make sure your text is spell-checked beforehand. Misspellings can alter results. Each sentence should end with a punctuation mark, otherwise run-on sentences can alter results. Abbreviated words should be correctly abbreviated (Mr. or Mrs. not Mr or Mrs). A clean, properly-formatted and grammatically-correct text will yield the best results.
3. SELECT A FORMULA
If you don't know which readability formula is best suited for your text, then use our Average Reading Level Consensus Calc. It will automatically select (9) popular formulas suited for all types of text. For a word-based formula, most writers prefer the Dale-Chall Formula because it can score any type of text. For a graph-based formula, the Fry Graph is widely-used. Otherwise, experiment with different formulas.
4. FINE-TUNE OUR SYSTEM
Open the "System Settings" (below the formulas) and change default settings to fine-tune how the scoring system processes your text. Click on any [ ? ] to get more information about the option.
5. READY, SET, GO!
When you're ready, hit the "Calculate Text Readability" button. Our system will analyze and score your text and output the information on a new page.
6. WORD STATS ONLY
If you need a fast way to see "Word Statistics" for your text, import your text and click on the "Text Statistics" tab. The app will process your text and output important stats, such as syllable count, average sentence length, number of abbreviations, proper nouns, passive voice, etc.
To learn more about readability formulas and how they influence the way we write and edit, visit our website's Articles Section.
1. GET STARTED
Paste your text into the text area or upload a .txt, .pdf, MS-Word, or html file from your computer. For other documents, copy the text to your device's clipboard, then paste into the text area.
2. FOR BEST RESULTS
Make sure your text is spell-checked beforehand. Misspellings can alter results. Each sentence should end with a punctuation mark, otherwise run-on sentences can alter results. Abbreviated words should be correctly abbreviated (Mr. or Mrs. not Mr or Mrs). A clean, properly-formatted and grammatically-correct text will yield the best results.
3. SELECT A FORMULA
If you don't know which readability formula is best suited for your text, then use our Average Reading Level Consensus Calc. It will automatically select (9) popular formulas suited for all types of text. For a word-based formula, most writers prefer the Dale-Chall Formula because it can score any type of text. For a graph-based formula, the Fry Graph is widely-used. Otherwise, experiment with different formulas.
4. FINE-TUNE OUR SYSTEM
Open the "System Settings" (below the formulas) and change default settings to fine-tune how the scoring system processes your text. Click on any [ ? ] to get more information about the option.
5. READY, SET, GO!
When you're ready, hit the "Calculate Text Readability" button. Our system will analyze and score your text and output the information on a new page.
6. WORD STATS ONLY
If you need a fast way to see "Word Statistics" for your text, import your text and click on the "Text Statistics" tab. The app will process your text and output important stats, such as syllable count, average sentence length, number of abbreviations, proper nouns, passive voice, etc.
To learn more about readability formulas and how they influence the way we write and edit, visit our website's Articles Section.