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maxmoju
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Does word count include words like "it", "the","an" etc 24 May 2011, 08:38
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Hi All,

Could someone please clarify that whether words like "at", "the", "in" etc also count as words while counting number of words in an essay or should we just count proper words (say for eg 4 character words) ?

Appreciate you guys help.
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madeinafrica
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Does word count include words like "it", "the","an" etc 24 May 2011, 10:01
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Yep it is a word.
I even think that it's is two words.

Go here to test your essay, I don't know what it worth, but at least you'll have the words count in your doc.

https://www.online-utility.org/english/readability_test_and_improve.jsp

Normally, it's intended to help you improve the readablty of your document...

Hope it helps.
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tortoiserun
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Does word count include words like "it", "the","an" etc 24 May 2011, 10:13
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Yes, they definitely count. Use whatever number the word count feature in your word processing program comes up with. This would count contractions (like it's) as one word, which I agree with. Also, a 5-10% overage on word count is generally considered acceptable, though some people prefer not to push it and stick with the stated limit.
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maxmoju
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Does word count include words like "it", "the","an" etc 24 May 2011, 10:25
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Thanks for the quick response.

I think now am in deep trouble :)
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graphix
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Does word count include words like "it", "the","an" etc 25 May 2011, 05:37
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tortoiserun
Yes, they definitely count. Use whatever number the word count feature in your word processing program comes up with. This would count contractions (like it's) as one word, which I agree with. Also, a 5-10% overage on word count is generally considered acceptable, though some people prefer not to push it and stick with the stated limit.
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Exactly. Just stick with the word count feature in Word/Pages/etc. and go with that. I think I was 5-10% over in almost all of my essays, but I also think the general rule of thumb is that this is ok. However, you don't want to push it over much more than that.