Home Row Typing Practice

Q: What is the longest word on the home row?

In the ENABLE word list of 172,820 entries it is haggadahs, nine letters. Seven words reach eight letters, alfalfas and ashfalls among them. Alaska is the only one of the 50 US state names typed on a single row.

Q: Can the drills be timed?

Yes. Choose Letter drills: asdf jkl; under Practise, then 30 s or 60 s. That makes an asdf lkj typing test: the 16 lines come round in a new order until the clock stops, and the result gives your WPM and accuracy.

Type the drills and real words, all on the middle row, timed or untimed.

Type each word and press space after it. No timer. The run ends with the text. lash fdsa fdsa fdsa fdsa lads kasha fjdksla; fjdksla; fjdksla; fjdksla; adds aha dad dada fads sass aahs slash dhal salads sagas gal fallal has skald sash ;lkj ;lkj ;lkj ;lkj alfalfa ashfall gaff gas glad alaska flash shah hajj add galahs alfalfas asdfg asdfg asdfg asdfg aah slsl slsl slsl slsl fgf fgf fgf fgf gaffs dahls hallah ads dads sags kashas sad haggadahs haggadah haha la asdfghjkl; asdfghjkl; asdfghjkl; asdfghjkl; fad shh dkdk dkdk dkdk dkdk lad lag

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Test length

Practise

–This run

–Your best

–Last run

No timer: the run ends with the text, or when you press Finish. Words per minute is correct characters divided by five; accuracy is correct keystrokes out of all keystrokes.

No runs yet. Your last ten will show up here.

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Next step Same idea, more keys: all 15 left-hand letters H is one reach. The right index finger has four more

All 126 words

Letter drills: asdf jkl; 16

a;a; a;a; a;a; a;a; Little fingers, left then right. The semicolon is the right little finger's home key. On a UK or US board it needs no Shift.
a;sldkfj a;sldkfj a;sldkfj a;sldkfj Finger pairs from the outside in: little, ring, middle, index, changing hands on every stroke. Eight keys, eight fingers, one stroke each.
asdf asdf asdf asdf The left hand rolls inward: little, ring, middle, index. Press one key at a time, like drumming four fingers on a table.
asdfg asdfg asdfg asdfg All five left-hand letters of the row. The roll ends with the index finger pressing F and then sliding to G, two strokes from one finger.
asdfghjkl; asdfghjkl; asdfghjkl; asdfghjkl; The whole row, left to right: ten keys, nine letters and the semicolon. Only the two index fingers type twice, F then G and H then J.
dkdk dkdk dkdk dkdk Middle fingers, left then right. Keep both index fingers resting on F and J while D and K move.
fdsa fdsa fdsa fdsa The left hand rolls outward, index to little finger: asdf played backwards.

Show all 126 words (119 more)

Letter drills: asdf jkl;, continued

fgf fgf fgf fgf G is not a resting key. The left index finger slides one key right from F, presses G and comes straight back to the bump.
fjdksla; fjdksla; fjdksla; fjdksla; Finger pairs from the inside out: index, middle, ring, little. Every stroke changes hands, so neither hand ever types twice running.
fjfj fjfj fjfj fjfj Index fingers only, left then right. F and J carry the raised bumps, so this drill is how you learn to find the row without looking.
ghgh ghgh ghgh ghgh Both index fingers sit on their inner keys, G and H, and take turns. Afterwards, feel for the bumps on F and J before the next drill.
hjkl; hjkl; hjkl; hjkl; The right hand's half of the row, starting on the reach key. The index finger presses H, slides to J, and the roll carries on outward.
jhj jhj jhj jhj H is not a resting key. The right index finger slides one key left from J, presses H and returns to the bump.
jkl; jkl; jkl; jkl; The right hand rolls outward: index, middle, ring, little. With asdf it makes the classic asdf jkl; line.
;lkj ;lkj ;lkj ;lkj The right hand rolls inward, little finger to index: the mirror image of asdf.
slsl slsl slsl slsl Ring fingers, left then right. Keep the little fingers resting on A and ; while S and L move.

Short words, 2 and 3 letters 31

aah Reach: H. Double A. A is 2 of 3 letters.
ad Left hand alone.
add Left hand alone. Double D.
ads Left hand alone.
ah Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H.
aha Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H. A is 2 of 3 letters.
all Double L.
as Left hand alone.
ash Reach: H.
ask
dad Left hand alone.
dal Dal is a dish of split lentils or peas.
fa Left hand alone. Fa is the fourth note of the sol-fa scale.
fad Left hand alone.
gad Left hand alone. Reach: G. To gad about is to wander round looking for fun.
gag Left hand alone. Reach: G twice.
gal Reach: G.
gas Left hand alone. Reach: G.
ha Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H.
had Reach: H.
hah Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H twice.
has Reach: H.
jag Reach: G. A jag is a sharp point that sticks out.
la Hands alternate on every letter. La is the sixth note of the sol-fa scale.
lad
lag Reach: G.
sad Left hand alone.
sag Left hand alone. Reach: G.
sh One of only two home-row words in ENABLE with no A. The other is shh.
shh One of only two home-row words in ENABLE with no A. The other is sh.
ska Hands alternate on every letter. Ska is the Jamaican music that came before reggae.

Four-letter words 38

aahs Reach: H. Double A. A is 2 of 4 letters.
adds Left hand alone. Double D.
alas A is 2 of 4 letters.
alga Reach: G. A is 2 of 4 letters. Alga is the singular of algae.
asks
dada Left hand alone. A is 2 of 4 letters. Dada was an art movement that began during the First World War.
dads Left hand alone.
dahl Reach: H. Dahl is another spelling of dal, the lentil dish.
dash Reach: H.
dhal Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H. Dhal is a third spelling of dal: ENABLE accepts dal, dahl and dhal.
fads Left hand alone.
fall Double L.
flag Reach: G.
flak Hands alternate on every letter. Flak is anti-aircraft fire and, by extension, heavy criticism.
gads Left hand alone. Reach: G.
gaff Left hand alone. Reach: G. Double F. A gaff is a pole with a hook for landing a big fish.
gaga Left hand alone. Reach: G twice. A is 2 of 4 letters.
gags Left hand alone. Reach: G twice.
gala Reach: G. A is 2 of 4 letters.
gall Reach: G. Double L. Gall is bile, and also a swelling on a plant such as an oak.
glad Reach: G.
haha Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H twice. A is 2 of 4 letters. A haha is a sunken fence: a ditch that keeps animals out without blocking the view.
hajj Reach: H. Double J. The hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca.
half Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H.
hall Reach: H. Double L.
hash Reach: H twice.
jags Reach: G.
lads
lags Reach: G.
lakh Reach: H. A lakh is one hundred thousand in South Asian counting.
lash Reach: H.
lass Double S.
saga Left hand alone. Reach: G. A is 2 of 4 letters.
sags Left hand alone. Reach: G.
sash Reach: H.
sass Left hand alone. Double S.
shad Reach: H. A shad is a fish of the herring family.
shah Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H twice. Shah was the title of the kings of Iran.

Five-letter words 25

algal Reach: G. Algal means to do with algae.
dahls Reach: H.
falls Double L.
flags Reach: G.
flash Reach: H.
flask
gaffs Left hand alone. Reach: G. Double F.
galah Reaches: G and H. A galah is a pink and grey Australian cockatoo.
galas Reach: G.
galls Reach: G. Double L.
glads Reach: G. Glads is short for gladioli.
glass Reach: G. Double S.
hadal Reach: H. Hadal describes the deepest ocean trenches.
halls Reach: H. Double L.
kasha Reach: H. Kasha is a porridge of buckwheat or other grain.
lakhs Reach: H.
sagas Left hand alone. Reach: G.
salad
salal Salal is an evergreen shrub of the North American Pacific coast.
salsa
shads Reach: H.
shahs Hands alternate on every letter. Reach: H twice.
shall Reach: H. Double L.
skald Hands alternate on every letter. A skald was a court poet of Viking-age Scandinavia.
slash Reach: H.

Long words, 6 to 9 letters 16

alaska ENABLE lists it in lower case. Alaska is the only one of the 50 US state names typed on a single row of letters.
alfalfa Alfalfa is a clover-like plant grown for hay.
alfalfas
ashfall Reach: H. Double L. An ashfall is the layer of ash a volcano drops.
ashfalls Reach: H. Double L.
fallal Double L. A fallal is a showy bit of trimming on clothes.
flasks
galahs Reaches: G and H.
haggadah Reaches: G twice and H twice. Double G. The Haggadah is the text read at the Passover Seder.
haggadahs Nine letters: the longest home-row word in ENABLE. Plural of Haggadah, the text read at the Passover Seder.
hallah Reach: H twice. Double L. Hallah is a spelling of challah, the braided bread.
hallahs Reach: H twice. Double L.
kashas Reach: H.
salads
salsas
skalds

How this list was compiled: 110 English words that use only the nine letters of the QWERTY home row (A S D F G H J K L), plus 16 drill lines. Words: picked from the ENABLE word list, https://norvig.com/ngrams/enable1.txt (172,820 words, fetched 2026-09-19). Every word is in that list and uses home-row letters only; rude words, insults and obscure two-letter words were left out. Row, hand and finger for each letter: read from this site's type the alphabet list. The home keys A S D F and J K L ;, the index fingers resting on F and J and the raised marks on those two keys were checked against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touch_typing on 2026-09-19. That A is the only vowel on the home row, and that D F G H J K L is a leftover of an alphabetical layout, are from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QWERTY, read 2026-09-19. The groups are tagged from the map. The notes are short on purpose. The notes give the reaches to G and H, the double letters, the share of A, and whether one hand types the whole word; a word with no reach in its note uses the resting keys only. The word meanings and the drill notes were written for this page. Counts from ENABLE, on 2026-09-19: 195 words can be typed on the home row alone; the longest is haggadahs at 9 letters, and 7 have 8 letters; 42 of the 195 use the left hand alone and none uses the right hand alone, because H, J, K and L include no vowel; the only two with no A are sh and shh. Other word lists give other counts. The 50 US state names were checked against the three letter rows: Alaska is the only one typed on a single row. The 16 items in the group Letter drills are letter patterns, not words, and none of them is in ENABLE. Each pattern is written out four times with spaces between, so that it types as one practice line. Licence: ENABLE word list: public domain (its release statement is quoted at http://wordlist.aspell.net/scowl_v1-readme/, read 2026-09-19). The selection, the groups, the finger notes, the meanings and the drill patterns are own work.

How it works

Home row typing practice starts where the fingers rest: ASDF for the left hand, JKL; for the right. The text mixes 16 drill lines, from fjfj to asdfghjkl;, with 110 real words that never leave the row, such as salad and alfalfa. The Practise menu narrows a run to one kind.

Read the full guide

Nine letters, one vowel

The QWERTY home row holds nine letters, and A is the only vowel. Eight fingers rest on ASDF and JKL;, the index fingers on F and J. G and H are reaches: an index finger slides one key inward and comes back. The ENABLE word list has 195 words that stay on this row: 42 for the left hand alone and none for the right, because H, J, K and L hold no vowel. Only sh and shh manage without an A.

Everything, or one kind at a time

The page opens on Everything: drill lines and words shuffled together. For the drills alone, open Practise and choose Letter drills: asdf jkl;. Each pattern is written four times, so fjfj makes a line for the index fingers and a;a; one for the little fingers. The same menu narrows the home row typing practice words by length, by reach or by hand. With No timer, a run ends with the text or when you press Finish.

Find F and J by touch before every run. Most keyboards mark them with a raised dot or bar.
After fgf or jhj, check that the index finger came back to its mark. A left hand that drifts one key right types glad as hlsf.
Pick 30 s under Test length for an asdf jkl typing game against your own best, which this browser keeps for each length.

Questions and answers

What is the longest word on the home row?

In the ENABLE word list of 172,820 entries it is haggadahs, nine letters. Seven words reach eight letters, alfalfas and ashfalls among them. Alaska is the only one of the 50 US state names typed on a single row.

Can the drills be timed?

Yes. Choose Letter drills: asdf jkl; under Practise, then 30 s or 60 s. That makes an asdf lkj typing test: the 16 lines come round in a new order until the clock stops, and the result gives your WPM and accuracy.

Do G and H count as home keys?

They are on the home row, but no finger rests on them. Each index finger covers two keys: F and G on the left, J and H on the right. Words with no G or H, such as salad and flask, never leave the resting keys. Then type the alphabet for all 26 letters.