About the Phrase Frequency Counter
Repeated words and phrases shape how a text reads and how a search engine understands it. This phrase frequency counter lists the most common words, pairs, triples or longer phrases in any text, with the number of times each appears. Choose the phrase length from one to six words, set a minimum count so that one-off phrases are hidden, and decide whether capital letters matter. Writers use it to spot overused wording, students to analyse a text, and marketers to see which key phrases a page really repeats. The text is analysed in your browser and never uploaded.
Updated October 2026
How to use the Phrase Frequency Counter
- 1Paste your text into the left box.
- 2Choose how many words each phrase has: 1 for words, 2 for pairs, 3 for triples.
- 3Set the minimum number of times a phrase must appear and how many results to show.
- 4Tick the case box if capital letters should count as different.
- 5Read the ranked list on the right and copy it.
Reading the results
The first column of each line is the count, followed by the phrase. In a 1,000 word article, a single content word that appears 20 times is a prominent theme, while a two-word phrase that appears 8 times is a strong signal for the topic. Compare the figures with the total number of phrases shown in the note to judge how dominant a phrase is.
Ways to use it
- Editing: find pet phrases and repeated openings to vary.
- Study: see the key terms in an essay or a source text.
- SEO: check that the main phrase appears and is not overused.
- Research: compare wording in two documents.
- Teaching: find the vocabulary a text relies on.
Setting the options
Start with a phrase length of two and a minimum count of two. If the list is empty, lower the minimum or shorten the phrase. If it is crowded with trivial pairs such as of the, raise the minimum or move to three-word phrases. Turning on the case option separates The and the, which is rarely what you want for prose.
Related tools
The Word Frequency Counter shows single words with percentages, the Keyword Density Checker is built for web pages, the Word Counter gives the length of the text and the Readability Score Checker rates how easy it is to read. The Letter Frequency Counter counts characters rather than words.
Features
- Phrases of 1 to 6 words
- Ranked by frequency
- Minimum count and result limit
- Case-sensitive option
- Counts words with apostrophes and hyphens correctly
- Copy and download as .txt
Frequently asked questions
How do I count how often a phrase appears?
Paste the text, set the phrase length and read the list. With a length of two, every pair of neighbouring words is counted, and the pairs that appear most often are shown first. A minimum count of two hides pairs that appear only once.
What is an n-gram?
An n-gram is a run of n neighbouring words. A single word is a unigram, a pair is a bigram and three words make a trigram. Counting n-grams is a basic technique in text analysis and search.
Why do words like the and and dominate the list?
They are the most common words in nearly any English text. For single words you will see them first. Use a phrase length of two or three to see more meaningful repeated expressions, or check the Keyword Density Checker, which can ignore common words.
Can I use it for SEO?
Yes. Search engines look at the phrases a page uses, and a quick count shows which ones you repeat. A key phrase repeated naturally is fine, but heavy repetition looks spammy, so aim for readable writing and treat the numbers as a check, not a target.
Does it work in other languages?
It splits text into words using letters and digits from any alphabet, so Spanish, French, German and many other languages work. Languages written without spaces, such as Chinese and Japanese, are not split into words.
How are hyphens and apostrophes treated?
Words like don't and well-known stay in one piece, so they count as single words. Other punctuation ends a word.