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Flesch Reading Ease and Kincaid Grade Level

Anonymous
2023-08-21T16:04:50+00:00

I am asking how Word calculates the FRE and FKGL scores.

I am aware of the formulas and do not need advice on those. I would rather like to know how a word counts syllables and what word count/ sentence count it uses. I am unsure if it uses the raw token count to get Average Word per Sentences and Average Syllables per Word. I think it may use a rules-based approach but it seems to be problematic as it does not align with other sources such as Grammarly's FRE.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | Windows

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  1. Charles Kenyon 166.6K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-08-22T18:30:24+00:00

    Microsoft Word uses a rules-based approach to calculate the Flesch Reading Ease and Kincaid Grade Level scores. For syllable counting, Word uses a combination of algorithms that take into account factors such as word length, vowel sounds, and common syllable patterns. The word count and sentence count used by Word are based on the raw token count, which is the total number of words and punctuation marks in the text. However, it's important to note that different tools may use different algorithms and criteria for calculating readability scores, which can result in variations in the scores obtained.

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  2. Jay Freedman 207.5K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2023-08-21T20:56:39+00:00

    Here's a web service that looks promising: https://github.com/mcnuttandrew/flesch-kincaid-as-a-service

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-22T18:15:56+00:00

    Let me know if there are any other questions I can help you with and thank you Jay.

    Regards,

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-08-21T20:22:53+00:00

    Thanks Jeremy,

    Is there an API that exists that can be used to get these calculations using Microsoft.Office.Interop.Word with C#?

    I would like to programmatically apply this functionality to a few documents, without having to open them individually and store results by hand.

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-08-21T19:20:45+00:00

    Hello JoshOrndorff! My name is Jeremy and I’m happy to help you with your question.

    The exact algorithm used is proprietary and is not any public database.

    So unfortunately I would not have that information for you.

    Regards,

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