What are the paragraphs?

Six short pieces of narrative prose, each a single paragraph of 60 to 120 words with a title, written for this page rather than copied from a book. They use ordinary punctuation and nothing a standard keyboard does not have: no dashes, no ellipses, no curly quotes. They are drawn in a shuffled order and nothing repeats until all six have been used.

Why practise on paragraphs instead of word lists?

Because paragraphs are what you type at work. A word list trains the letters, but a paragraph adds the shift key, commas and full stops, and makes you read ahead because the next word cannot be guessed from the last. Most people's accuracy drops the first time they meet that at speed, which is exactly what this practice is for.

Is there a time limit?

No. The header shows how long you have been going so your speed has a denominator, but nothing ends the run for you. Press Finish under the passage when you want your score, or Escape for a fresh set of paragraphs.

What does the score show?

Net and gross words per minute, accuracy on first-try keystrokes, the mistakes you corrected and the ones left standing, how steady your pace was, and keystrokes per hour. All of it is worked over the time from your first keystroke to the moment you pressed Finish.

Can I time it instead?

Yes. Set the Run control to Timed and the duration buttons come back: 30 seconds, 60, two minutes or five, on the same paragraphs. The Passage control switches to common words, quotes, code or numbers if you want something else to practise on.

Is what I type saved or uploaded?

Neither. The paragraphs ship with the page and the scoring runs in your browser. Only your settings and your best practice score are kept, in this browser's local storage, and clearing site data removes them.

Paragraph Typing Practice

Typing practice on whole paragraphs, with nothing counting down. The page opens in the untimed mode on the story passages: paragraphs of 60 to 120 words with capitals, commas and full stops, written for this site, one after another. Your net speed and accuracy update as you type, and Finish gives you the full scorecard over the time you actually spent.

untimed practicestories0:00 so far0 net wpm100% accclick anywhere here to start typingcaps lock is off

No clock: type for as long as you like and press Finish to score the run. Backspace corrects. Press Escape to restart.

Run

Passage

Working

Show the wpm arithmetic

Net wpm

Accuracy

100%

Short narrative passages written for this site, with ordinary punctuation and paragraph rhythm.

No clock. Speed and accuracy update as you type, and you finish when you decide to.

Net and gross are both real, and they differ. Gross counts every character you typed at five characters a word, mistakes included. Net takes off one word for every mistake still standing when the run ends, which is the convention employment typing tests use. Both are shown here, so a number from this page will not surprise you when somebody else tests you.

Common questions

What are the paragraphs?: Six short pieces of narrative prose, each a single paragraph of 60 to 120 words with a title, written for this page rather than copied from a book. They use ordinary punctuation and nothing a standard keyboard does not have: no dashes, no ellipses, no curly quotes. They are drawn in a shuffled order and nothing repeats until all six have been used.
Why practise on paragraphs instead of word lists?: Because paragraphs are what you type at work. A word list trains the letters, but a paragraph adds the shift key, commas and full stops, and makes you read ahead because the next word cannot be guessed from the last. Most people's accuracy drops the first time they meet that at speed, which is exactly what this practice is for.
Is there a time limit?: No. The header shows how long you have been going so your speed has a denominator, but nothing ends the run for you. Press Finish under the passage when you want your score, or Escape for a fresh set of paragraphs.
What does the score show?: Net and gross words per minute, accuracy on first-try keystrokes, the mistakes you corrected and the ones left standing, how steady your pace was, and keystrokes per hour. All of it is worked over the time from your first keystroke to the moment you pressed Finish.
Can I time it instead?: Yes. Set the Run control to Timed and the duration buttons come back: 30 seconds, 60, two minutes or five, on the same paragraphs. The Passage control switches to common words, quotes, code or numbers if you want something else to practise on.
Is what I type saved or uploaded?: Neither. The paragraphs ship with the page and the scoring runs in your browser. Only your settings and your best practice score are kept, in this browser's local storage, and clearing site data removes them.

Net WPM subtracts one word for every uncorrected error, the convention used by employer tests; gross WPM counts everything typed at five characters a word. Keystrokes per hour counts every character, and the space or Enter between entries, scaled from the scored time to an hour. Timing uses the browser clock and starts on your first keystroke, so the first second is never lost.