PHP 8 reference · String Functions

PHP str_word_count() Function

Count the words in a string, or return them as an array. Words are runs of letters plus ' and -; digits split words.

PHP 8 Since 4.3

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Syntax

str_word_count(string $string, int $format = 0, ?string $characters = null): array|int

Parameter	Description
`string`	The input string.
`format` optional	`0` returns the count, `1` an array of words, `2` an array keyed by each word's position. Default: `0`
`characters` optional	Extra characters to treat as part of a word.

The number of words, or an array of words when format is 1 or 2.

Count and list wordsTry it yourself

<?php
$text = "The quick brown fox jumps";
echo str_word_count($text), "\n";
print_r(str_word_count($text, 1));

Output

5
Array
(
    [0] => The
    [1] => quick
    [2] => brown
    [3] => fox
    [4] => jumps
)

What counts as a wordTry it yourself

<?php
echo str_word_count("Route 66 is 2,448 miles"), "\n"; // numbers aren't words
echo str_word_count("well-known don't"), "\n";

Output

3
2

Letters outside ASCII (é, ü, Cyrillic) split words, because the function isn't Unicode-aware. For UTF-8 text use preg_split('/\s+/u', trim($text)) and count() the result.

Version	Change
PHP 4.3	Added

explode() · Split a string into an array by a separator, like turning "a,b,c" into ["a", "b", "c"]. A limit caps the pieces.
strlen() · Return the length of a string in bytes. Multibyte characters such as é count as several bytes; use mb_strlen() to count characters.
PHP Strings · tutorial

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