Plain English checker
Would a neighbour understand it?
Paste in a Focus story, a leaflet, an email or a web page. The checker shows the long sentences, the jargon and the council-speak, and gives you plainer words to use.
I am writing
Your text stays on your own device. Nothing is sent or saved.
out of 100
Your text, marked up
Words to swap
The rest of the check
Keep going. The checker needs about 20 words before it can tell you anything useful.
The rules this checker works from
- Keep sentences short, with one idea in each.
- In a leaflet, keep paragraphs to one or two sentences.
- Use the short word, not the long one.
- If you can cut a word, cut it.
- Say who did what. “The council closed the library” is clearer than “the library was closed”.
- No jargon, council-speak or initials. Write it the way you would say it to a neighbour.
- It is a guide, not a judge. If a flagged word is the right word, keep it.