PHP str_word_count() Function – Description, Parameters, Return Values, and Usage Examples

Function Overview The str_word_count() function returns information about the words used in a given string. By default it returns the number of words as an integer, but with the optional format parameter it can return an array of words, an associative array of word positions, or both.

Parameters string – The input string to be analyzed. format – Determines the type of return value. Supported values are:

0 – Return only the word count (integer).

1 – Return an indexed array containing all words.

2 – Return an associative array where keys are the numeric positions of the words in the string and values are the words themselves. charlist – (Optional) A string of additional characters to be considered part of a word.

Return Value Depending on the format argument, the function returns either an integer (word count) or an array (list of words or word positions).

Example Code

<?php
$str = "Hello fri3nd, you're
        looking  good today!";
print_r(str_word_count($str, 1)); // returns an indexed array of words
print_r(str_word_count($str, 2)); // returns an associative array with positions
print_r(str_word_count($str, 1, "àá??3")); // includes additional characters as part of words
echo str_word_count($str);
?>

Sample Output

Array
(
    [0] => Hello
    [1] => fri3nd
    [2] => you're
    [3] => looking
    [4] => good
    [5] => today
)
Array
(
    [0] => Hello
    [6] => fri3nd
    [10] => you're
    [29] => looking
    [46] => good
    [51] => today
)
7

The examples illustrate how different format values affect the output, and how the optional charlist can be used to treat additional characters as part of words.