Haiku checker

Type or paste your haiku with each line on its own line. Every line gets a count, with a tick if it fits 5, 7 or 5, and the verdict at the top says which line is off and by how many syllables. To count syllables in any text, not just a haiku, switch Check to Syllable count.

The counts come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which gives American pronunciations for 126,000 words. A syllable is a vowel sound, so the checker counts the vowel sounds in each word's pronunciation. That's why queue is one syllable and idea is three, whatever the spelling says. The dictionary is loaded into your browser, so your poem isn't sent anywhere.

Some words are said more than one way. Fire is one syllable or two, every is two or three, and family is two or three. When the dictionary lists both, the checker accepts either, and shows a range like 4–5 for the line. Choose the one that matches how you read the poem aloud.

Names and slang may not be in the dictionary, and nor may new words. These are counted with a spelling rule of thumb, one syllable per group of vowels with a silent final e taken off, and marked with a question mark. Clap them out to be sure.

In school it usually does, as it's the form most teachers ask for. Japanese haiku count on, sound units that are shorter than English syllables. Haibun is two syllables in English but four on in Japanese, so 17 on say less than 17 English syllables, and many poets writing in English keep their haiku shorter.

A traditional haiku also has a kigo, a word that hints at the season, and a cut between two images. Japanese uses a cutting word for this, and English uses punctuation or a line break. Basho's frog poem, the sample above, has a cut after the old pond, before the splash.