How to use the repeated word finder
- Paste your text into the box. A short draft with mistakes is loaded as a sample.
- Read the back to back repeats list, which shows each doubled word with its line, column and a little context.
- Set how many times a word must appear to be listed, and the shortest word length to count, then read the most used words.
- Leave out common words if you want to see the words that carry your meaning, and copy the report.
A doubled word and an overused word
In the text This is is a test, the words is is appear twice in a row, so the tool lists is is once with its line and column. In a longer draft with the plan used in three sentences, the plan shows up in the most used list with a count of 3 and its share of all words.
The same word separated by punctuation, as in That, that was it, is not flagged as a doubled word, because the comma makes it deliberate.
How words and repeats are counted
A word is a run of letters and digits, and an apostrophe inside a word, as in don't, stays part of it. Hyphens split words, so well-known counts as two. Case is ignored, so The the is a repeat. Two words are back to back when only spaces or line breaks separate them, so a repeat at the end of one line and the start of the next is found.
Some repeats are correct. Had had, that that and the name Bora Bora are fine, so each hit is a place to look, not an error. The most used list counts every word that meets the minimum count and length, sorted from most to least, with ties in alphabetical order, and shows up to 50.
Common words
Words such as the, and and of are used constantly, so the list can be left to show them or not. The words left out when the option is on are named on the page. Turn it off to see them. A high count for an ordinary word is not a problem by itself, but a rare word that appears many times in a short text can be worth varying.
Text of up to 500,000 characters is checked in your browser and never uploaded. See also the word counter, the passive voice checker, the readability score calculator and the diff checker.
Assumptions and limits
- A word is letters and digits with optional inner apostrophes, and case is ignored.
- Back to back means separated by white space only. Punctuation breaks the pair.
- The common word list is short and fixed, and is shown on the page.
- Hyphenated words are counted as separate words.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find repeated words in a row?
Paste your text. Every pair such as is is or the the is listed with its line and column, so you can fix it in your editor.
Does it find repeated words that are not next to each other?
Yes, in the most used list. It counts how often each word appears anywhere in the text and lists the ones that pass your minimum.
Why is That, that not flagged?
A comma between the words suggests the repeat is on purpose, so only words separated by spaces or line breaks are treated as doubled.
Is capitalization ignored?
Yes. Words are compared in lower case, so The the counts as a repeat, and the original spelling is shown in the list.