Adverb Counter
Count adverbs in any text. The tool flags -ly adverbs, irregular adverbs (well, fast, often, soon), and intensifiers (very, really, quite). See adverb-to-word ratio, the full adverb list, and per-sentence adverb load.
How to count adverbs in writing
1. Paste your draft
Drop a paragraph, essay, blog post, or full chapter into the textarea. Counting begins on the first keystroke. The sidebar shows the running total, the adverb-to-word ratio, and the full list of detected adverbs ranked by frequency. See also: Essay Word Counter.
2. Review what counts as an adverb
The tool flags three categories: words ending in -ly (slowly, quickly, quietly), irregular adverbs that do not end in -ly (well, fast, often, soon, here, there, now, always, never), and intensifiers (very, really, quite, extremely, incredibly). The two toggles in the sidebar let you exclude intensifiers or irregulars from the count if you only care about strict -ly adverbs.
3. Watch the adverb ratio
Adverb-to-word ratio is the percentage of words in the text that are adverbs. Stephen King famously argued for keeping adverbs near zero in fiction. Most professional writers run between 2 and 5 percent adverb ratio in fiction prose. Business writing tolerates 5 to 8 percent. Academic writing often hits 10 percent. Use the ratio as a quick health check on adverb density.
4. Spot the most frequent adverbs
The "Adverbs found" list ranks adverbs by frequency. Repeated adverbs (saying "very" four times in a paragraph) signal that the underlying adjective or verb should be strengthened instead. Replace the adverb with a stronger root word: "ran very quickly" becomes "sprinted"; "incredibly happy" becomes "elated"; "really tired" becomes "exhausted".
When to count adverbs
Fiction draft editing
The advice "kill your -lys" is overstated, but the underlying point holds. Adverbs that modify verbs are usually a sign that the verb is weak. "She walked quickly" is weaker than "She rushed". "Said angrily" is weaker than "snapped". Use the counter to find the adverbs, then ask of each: is there a stronger verb that absorbs this adverb?
Academic writing
Hedging adverbs (possibly, probably, arguably, somewhat, perhaps) appear constantly in academic prose because authors need to qualify claims. Too many of them and the writing reads weak. Too few and the writing overstates. Aim for hedging on about half of factual claims; the counter shows you whether you are at half or 80 percent.
ESL writing instruction
Adverb placement varies across languages (German puts time before manner before place, Spanish allows post-verb placement, Japanese has dedicated adverb-class particles). English students often over-use intensifiers because their native language has simpler intensification rules. The counter surfaces over-use quickly.
Brand voice audits
House voice guidelines often cap intensifier use. "Avoid filler intensifiers like very, really, quite" is a common rule. Paste a marketing copy draft and the counter shows whether you hit the rule before editorial review.
Speechwriting
Spoken text uses far more adverbs than written text because the speaker is filling time and signposting tone. A speech with under 5 percent adverbs reads stiff. A speech with over 12 percent reads rambling. Use the counter to find the sweet spot.
How the detector works
The -ly heuristic
Words of 5 or more characters ending in -ly are treated as adverbs by default. This catches the vast majority of -ly adverbs (slowly, quickly, suddenly) with a small false-positive rate. A maintained exception list catches the most common false positives: family, lovely, friendly, jelly, belly, only, early, likely.
The irregular list
About 60 irregular adverbs that do not end in -ly carry adverb behavior (well, fast, hard, late, early, soon, often, here, there, now, then, today, always, never, sometimes, etc.). The toggle lets you turn this list off if you only want strict -ly adverbs.
The intensifier list
Roughly 20 words that intensify adjectives or adverbs (very, really, quite, extremely, incredibly, absolutely, totally, completely, utterly, somewhat, rather). Linguistically these are adverbs of degree. The toggle lets you exclude them if your interest is in adverbs of manner only.
What the tool does not detect
The tool is a lexical scanner, not a full POS tagger. It cannot disambiguate "fast" the noun (in a religious fast) from "fast" the adverb. It does not detect adverb phrases ("with care", "in a hurry"). It does not detect sentential adverbs at the start of sentences when they look like other parts of speech. For sub-1-percent accuracy gaps, run a full POS tagger; for everyday writing review, the heuristic works.
Adverb ratios by genre
| Genre | Typical adverb ratio | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Hemingway prose | 1-2% | Famous for adverb avoidance. Strong verbs do the lifting. |
| Stephen King fiction | 2-3% | King argues against -ly adverbs but still uses ~2%. |
| Modern literary fiction | 3-5% | Some adverb use for rhythm and texture. |
| Business writing | 5-7% | Hedging language drives ratio up. |
| Marketing copy | 4-6% | Avoiding intensifier-heavy copy is a brand discipline. |
| Academic writing | 8-12% | Hedging adverbs (possibly, arguably) plus connective adverbs (however, therefore). |
| Casual speech (transcribed) | 10-15% | Filler intensifiers explode the ratio. |
| Legal writing | 6-9% | Hedging adverbs ("substantially", "materially"). |
Privacy and processing
All counting runs in your browser. Manuscripts, blog drafts, academic papers, and brand copy stay local. The tool does not send keystrokes to a server, does not log, and does not store the input. Safe for confidential drafts and copy under NDA.
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Frequently asked questions
What is an adverb?
An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It typically tells you HOW, WHEN, WHERE, or to what DEGREE. Most English adverbs end in -ly (slowly, quickly, quietly). Some do not (well, fast, often, soon, never, here, now).
Do all adverbs end in -ly?
No. About 80 percent of common English adverbs end in -ly. The other 20 percent are irregular: well, fast, hard, late, often, soon, here, there, now, then, always, never, sometimes. The tool's irregular toggle catches these.
Should I avoid adverbs in fiction?
Reduce them, do not eliminate them. Stephen King argued in 'On Writing' that adverbs in dialogue tags ('she said angrily') are a writer's crutch. Most adverbs that modify verbs signal that the verb is weak; replacing 'ran quickly' with 'sprinted' usually helps. But adverbs of time, place, and degree often have no good substitute and are fine to keep.
What is a healthy adverb-to-word ratio?
Fiction: 2 to 5 percent. Business writing: 5 to 8 percent. Academic writing: 8 to 12 percent. Spoken / casual: 10 to 15 percent. If your ratio is above the genre norm, the draft probably has filler intensifiers or weak verbs that could be strengthened.
Does the tool detect every adverb?
It catches 95+ percent of common adverbs through three signals: -ly suffix (with a maintained false-positive exception list), an irregular-adverb list, and an intensifier list. It does not catch adverb phrases ('with care', 'in a hurry') and cannot disambiguate ambiguous words like 'fast' (noun vs adverb).
Why does very show up so often as an adverb?
'Very' is the most common intensifier in English and counts as an adverb of degree. If your draft uses 'very' more than once per 200 words, consider strengthening the adjective instead: 'very tired' becomes 'exhausted'; 'very happy' becomes 'elated'. The frequency list surfaces over-used intensifiers.
Can I turn off intensifiers?
Yes. Toggle 'Count intensifiers' off and the count drops to pure manner / time / place adverbs. Useful when intensifiers are not your editing target.
Is the text sent to a server?
No. All scanning runs in your browser. Manuscripts, blog drafts, academic papers, and any text stay on your device. The tool does not log, fingerprint, or transmit the input.
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