An English typing test with real sentences
The passages on this test are plain English prose: complete sentences with capital letters and punctuation, about 55 words long. Press Start test, type what you see, and the clock runs from your first key to the last character. You get a score, raw WPM and accuracy.
Sentences are a good measure of everyday English typing, because emails, messages and documents are made of sentences.
Common English letter patterns
English reuses a small set of letter groups all the time. Once your fingers type them as single movements, every passage gets easier.
| Pattern type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Common pairs | th, he, in, er, an, re |
| Common endings | ing, ed, ly, tion |
| Short words | the, and, of, to, that, with |
| Double letters | ll, ss, ee, oo |
For double letters, press the key twice with the same finger in a quick, even tap.
Capital letters and punctuation
Each sentence starts with a capital, and names inside sentences have them too. Use the Shift key on the opposite hand from the letter: right Shift for a capital A, left Shift for a capital L. This keeps both hands near the home row.
On a standard QWERTY layout the comma and the full stop sit under the right hand, and a space follows each one. The passages have no apostrophes or quotation marks, so you will not need those keys here.
Do not use Caps Lock for single capitals. It takes two extra presses and is easy to leave on.
Tips for non-native typists
Read whole words. If you spell out each word letter by letter, your hands wait for your eyes. Reading English regularly makes whole words familiar, and typing speeds up with it.
Slow down for spelling traps. English spelling does not always follow the sound. Words such as though, people and because are worth an extra moment.
Check your input language. If your keyboard is set to another language or script, make sure it can produce plain Latin letters, commas and full stops before you start.
Do not translate. Copy typing is a visual task. You do not need to understand every word to type it accurately.
Where to go next
For a routine built on this test, see typing test practice. If you want single words with no capitals or punctuation, try the word typing test. Score bands are on the main typing test page.