gizmobench

Sentence Typing Test

A typing test counted in sentences rather than seconds. The page opens on a run of ten complete sentences, one after another, with the header showing which one you are on instead of a clock counting down. It ends when the tenth sentence is finished, however long that takes, and the score is worked over the time you actually spent. Everyone who takes it types exactly the same amount of work.

Ten sentences, one after another, with no clock. The run is scored when the last one is typed. Backspace corrects. Press Escape to restart.
Run
Passage

A sentence run needs passages made of single sentences, so only the quotes and the code lines are available. Switch Run to Timed or Practice to type the others.

Working
Net wpm
Accuracy

Sentences from books and speeches long out of copyright: real punctuation and capitals.

Ten sentences, one at a time. The run ends when the tenth is typed, however long that takes.

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 time runs out, 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. Nothing you type is uploaded: the passage is bundled with the page and the scoring runs in your browser.

Common questions

How does a sentence run end?
When you finish typing the tenth sentence. There is no clock: the header reads sentence 1 of 10 and counts up as each one is completed, and the scorecard appears the moment the last character of the last sentence lands. If you want to stop early, press Finish and it scores what you typed up to that point.
Why count sentences instead of seconds?
Because it fixes the amount of work rather than the amount of time. In a timed test a faster typist types more, so two people are being scored on different passages; in a sentence run everybody types the same ten sentences and the difference shows up in the time. It is also a better fit for practising a specific thing, since you know exactly when you are done.
Where do the sentences come from?
From the quotes list: complete sentences from books and speeches long out of copyright, with real punctuation and capitals. If you switch the Passage control to code, the run is ten code lines instead. The word, digit and story sources are not made of single sentences, so their buttons are switched off while the run is counted in sentences, and a run that arrives set to one of them types the quotes instead. Set Run to Timed or Practice to type those three.
How is the speed worked out with no clock?
The same way as always, over the time the run actually took: characters typed divided by five gives words, divided by the elapsed minutes gives gross words per minute, and one word comes off for every mistake still standing to give net. Turn on Show the wpm arithmetic under the test to see those three steps written out under your score.
Does a mistake in sentence three block sentence four?
No. The comparison is positional and it never stops you: a wrong character is marked in red and you carry on, or backspace and fix it. The counter moves to the next sentence when you have typed as many characters as the current one holds, whether or not they were all correct, so a run always ends after ten sentences worth of typing.
Can I go back to a timed test?
Yes. The Run control under the test switches between Timed, Practice and Sentences, and Timed brings back the duration buttons for 30 seconds, 60, two minutes and five. Your choice is remembered in this browser.

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. Timing uses the browser clock and starts on your first keystroke, so the first second is never lost.