What counts as a hedge word?

A published list of openers and qualifiers such as it is worth noting that, as a matter of fact, needless to say and for what it is worth. They postpone the point without adding information.

Will it change my meaning?

It never paraphrases or reorders a sentence. It removes listed hedges, applies a substitution table, trims documented redundant pairs and drops sentences that repeat an earlier one; every change is listed so it can be reversed.

Why would a repeated sentence be deliberate?

In a summary or a transition, repetition can be the structure. That is why the dropped sentence and the sentence it repeated are both named in the report rather than silently removed.

Does it work on more than one paragraph?

Yes. The cuts apply to the whole text and the counts are totals, though the overlap check is most useful within a paragraph. The compressed version can be copied or downloaded as plain text.

Paragraph Compressor

Q: How does it decide two sentences say the same thing?

Each sentence is reduced to its content words with stop words removed, then compared with the sentences already kept using the Jaccard overlap of those sets. Sixty per cent or more and the later sentence is dropped, with both sentences named.

Your paragraph

Paragraph to compress

Compressed version

Paste a paragraph — the compressed version builds as you type.

What was cut

No documented cut applies to this paragraph.

Notes

Paste a paragraph to compress.

Scope and limits

Only published entries are cut: hedge phrases, wordy phrases, redundant pairs, and a sentence whose content words overlap an earlier sentence by 60% or more. Nothing is paraphrased.

A dropped sentence is gone from the copy, not from the draft. Read the compressed version in context before replacing the paragraph, and keep the original if the repetition was doing work.

The paragraph compressor applies four documented cuts — hedge words, wordy phrases, redundant pairs and repeated sentences — and reports the word count before and after with every cut listed.

What is Paragraph Compressor?

The paragraph compressor makes four kinds of cut, and each one is published. Hedge words go first: phrases such as it is worth noting that, as a matter of fact and needless to say are removed because they postpone the point without adding information. Wordy phrases go second, using the shared table that replaces in order to with to and make a decision with decide. Redundant pairs go third, so advance planning becomes planning and basic fundamentals becomes fundamentals.

The fourth cut is the only one that removes a whole sentence, and it is measured rather than guessed. Each sentence is reduced to its content words — stop words removed — and compared with the sentences already kept using the Jaccard overlap of those word sets. When a sentence overlaps an earlier one by sixty per cent or more, it is dropped, and the report names both the sentence and the one it repeated so the deletion can be checked. That is how a repeated sentence is caught without a model deciding what the paragraph meant.

Every cut is listed with its kind, the text that was removed and what replaced it, so the compressed version is reproducible from the change list. The word count is reported before and after, together with the whole-number percentage removed, and a paragraph that yields no cuts says so plainly rather than pretending to have found something. A reduction under ten per cent comes with a note that the rest is content rather than padding.

The compressor never paraphrases a sentence or reorders an argument. It deletes hedges, applies a substitution table, trims duplicated words and drops exact repeats. That makes it safe to run on a draft whose meaning is settled and whose weight is not — which is most drafts in their third pass, after the structure has stopped moving.

The honest limit is context. A repeated sentence is sometimes deliberate, in a summary or a transition, and a hedge sometimes softens a claim that should be softened. The change list exists so those cases can be restored by hand, and the notes say so. Compression is a proposal, not an edit.

A note on repeated sentences: the overlap check runs after the earlier cuts, so hedging can push two sentences together that looked distinct before. That is deliberate — a sentence whose only distinguishing words were it is worth noting that was not carrying an argument of its own, and the drop is reported with its overlap so the judgement can be checked. When the repeated sentences are a deliberate refrain, restore them; a refrain is a device, not padding.

One more thing worth knowing: the overlap check is order sensitive, so the earlier sentence survives. If the later one is the better wording, keep the later and delete the earlier by hand.

When a paragraph is long but has no filler to remove, the {{simplify-text-tool|Simplify Text Tool}} splits sentences at a documented seam instead, and the {{sentence-rewriter|Sentence Rewriter}} changes their shape where the rhythm is the problem.

How to use Paragraph Compressor

Paste the paragraph you want to tighten.
Read the reduction figure and the before and after word counts.
Work down the change list and check each cut against your meaning.
Review the dropped sentences, which name the sentence each one repeated.
Copy the compressed version and keep the original beside it for a day.

When to use Paragraph Compressor vs related tools

Use the paragraph compressor on a draft whose argument is settled and whose word count is not — the third pass, after structure has stopped moving. Hedges, redundant pairs and exact repeats are the cheapest weight a paragraph carries, and each cut is listed for review.

When there is nothing to cut but the sentences are still heavy, the Simplify Text Tool replaces wordy phrases and splits long sentences. Where the problem is a run of same-shaped sentences rather than length, the Sentence Rewriter offers clause-order variants instead.

Privacy & Security

This tool runs entirely in your browser — no data ever leaves your device. There is no server round-trip, no upload, no logging, and no account required. Your input is processed locally using client-side JavaScript and is never stored, transmitted, or accessible to anyone else. When you close the tab, everything disappears.