Linsear Write Readability Score
Linsear Write readability score was developed by United States Air Force to help calculate readability of their technical manuals.
It grades the text based on sentence length and number of poly (3 or more) syllable words.
Linsear Write Formula
The standard Linsear Write metric Lw runs on a 100-word sample:
- For each “easy word”, defined as words with 2 syllables or less, add 1 point.
- For each “hard word”, defined as words with 3 syllables or more, add 3 points.
- Divide the points by the number of sentences in the 100-word sample.
- Adjust the provisional result r:
- If r > 20, Lw = r / 2.
- If r ≤ 20, Lw = r / 2 - 1.
Grade Conversion
Lower the score, easier to read. Score is based on polysyllable words and sentence length. Use shorter sentences and words with less syllables to lower the score or longer sentences with complex words to raise the score.