following Readability
The table is adapted from The Art of Readable Writing by Rudolf Flesch (Macmillan:
New York, 1949; p 163).
Ave
Sentence
Length
(Words)
Ave No.
Syllables
per Word
Reading
Ease
Score
Grade
Level
Score
Est. %
of U.S.
Adults
Very Easy
8
1.23
90-100
4
93
Easy
11
1.31
80-90
5
91
Fairly Easy
14
1.39
70-80
6
88
Standard
17
1.47
60-70
7-8
83
Fairly Difficult
21
1.55
50-60
9-10
54
Difficult
25
1.67
30-50
11-14
33
Very Difficult
29
1.92
0-30
15
5
Description of
Style
Examples from Scott Zimmerman's Writing
Journal Article
(Enc. Article
21.8
2.00
16
16.0
2
20.0
1.93
23
15.2
4
18.3
1.90
28
14.2
25
13.4
1.55
62
8.7
84
(Cyclodextrin)
Review Appl. Phys.)
Univ. Report
(BYU Self Study)
Chapter for
Gen. Audience
(Health Book)
Readability statistics are available under the Review tab. Click on Spelling & Grammar and
select Options. Under When correcting spelling and grammar in Word make sure Check
grammar with spelling and Show readability statistics are checked. Run Spelling &
Grammar; at the end, readability statistics will be displayed.