Sentence Complexity

What It Does

Detects sentences that are too long or contain too many embedded clauses. Uses NLP to count clause boundaries (subordinating conjunctions, coordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns) and estimates sentence complexity.

Why It Matters

Long, heavily nested sentences force readers to hold too many ideas in working memory:

• Complex: "The man, who had once been a soldier, but now, after years of traveling, worked as a farmer, although he sometimes wondered if he should have stayed."
• Clear: "The man had once been a soldier. After years of traveling, he settled into farming — though he sometimes wondered if he should have stayed."

Both convey the same information, but the second version lets the reader absorb each idea before the next arrives.

What Gets Flagged

Long Sentences

Severity: Information

Triggered when a sentence exceeds 40 words.

Example (flagged):

The detectives investigated the abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town and discovered several pieces of evidence that suggested the suspect had been living there for weeks before the authorities finally caught up with him.

Suggested revision: Break into 2-3 shorter sentences for clarity.

Complex Clauses

Severity: Hint

Triggered when a sentence contains 4+ embedded clauses (estimated by subordinating conjunctions, relative pronouns, coordinating conjunctions, semicolons, and colons) and is at least 20 words long.

Clause markers detected include:

• Subordinating: although, because, since, while, unless, until, whereas
• Relative: who, which, that, whom, whose, where, when
• Coordinating: and, but, or, yet, so, nor
• Punctuation: semicolons, colons

Configuration

No configuration options.

Technical Details

• Source: prose-craft
• Scope: Sentence-level
• Method: Word count + NLP-validated clause boundary estimation