Plots your sample on the classic Fry readability graph and returns the grade level region your text falls into.
Built and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software · Last verified · Sources
Use the Fry graph when teaching readability or evaluating K-12 reading material. The visual graph is excellent for showing students why both sentence length and syllable density matter, and it is still used in many US classrooms and reading-specialist certifications.
Fry is a graphical version of the same inputs Flesch and Flesch–Kincaid use. Compared to Raygor, Fry uses syllables (more nuanced) where Raygor uses long words (faster). Use Fry for teaching; use FK for production scoring.
Edward Fry's readability graph (1968) was designed for teachers to estimate the grade level of texts without complex math.
You count the average number of sentences and syllables per 100 words, then locate the point on his graph to read off a grade level.
This tool computes the point automatically and plots it on a digital version of the graph.
Edward Fry observed that no single formula worked across grade levels. The graph captures the curved relationship between syllable density and sentence length.
Yes, especially in K-12 education. Fry remains popular for evaluating reading material in primary and secondary classrooms.
It plots the average number of sentences per 100 words against the average number of syllables per 100 words, taken from several samples. Where those two values intersect on the graph indicates the approximate grade level.
The standard method uses three 100-word passages from the beginning, middle, and end of the text, then averages them. Using a single short sample makes the grade estimate less reliable.
Input
~100-word passage of news prose.
Output
Fry plot: ~6.5 sentences / 100 words, ~140 syllables / 100 words → Grade 8.
The Fry graph plots sentences-per-100-words against syllables-per-100-words. Most newspaper writing lands in the grade 7–9 zone in the middle of the chart.
The Fry Readability Graph is a plotting method, not an equation. Edward Fry's 1968 procedure asks you to take three 100-word passages, count sentences and syllables in each, average them, and find where that point falls on a printed graph divided into grade-level regions.
This tool computes the two coordinates — average sentences per 100 words and average syllables per 100 words — and reports the region they land in, so you do not need the printed graph. The arithmetic is the same; only the lookup is automated.
One consequence of the graph's design is worth knowing: it has an "invalid" region. Certain combinations of very long sentences with very short words, or the reverse, fall outside the plotted grade bands entirely. That is not a failure of the tool — it is the method saying the text does not resemble the prose the graph was fitted to, which is common with lists, dialogue and poetry.
The method behind this tool, so you can check it rather than take it on trust.
Fry, E. (1968). “A Readability Formula That Saves Time.” Journal of Reading, 11(7), 513–516, 575–578.
The graph-based estimate; this tool computes the coordinates rather than asking you to plot them.
Classic 0–100 readability score.
Readability scoresU.S. grade level for your text.
Readability scoresPenalises complex (3+ syllable) words.
Readability scoresHealth & medical text grade level.