Three Minute Typing Test on Long Passages From Two Classic Novels

Type real prose in this 3 minute typing test, or set 5 or 10 minutes.

Type each word and press space after it. The clock starts on your first key. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters. "My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?" Mr. Bennet replied that he had not. "But it is," returned she; "for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it." Mr. Bennet made no answer. "Do not you want to know who has taken it?" cried his wife, impatiently. "You want to tell me, and I have no objection to hearing it." This was invitation enough. "Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week." "What is his name?" "Bingley." "Is he married or single?" "Oh, single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!" "How so? how can it affect them?" "My dear Mr. Bennet," replied his wife, "how can you be so tiresome? You must know that I am thinking of his marrying one of them." "Is that his design in settling here?" "Design? Nonsense, how can you talk so! But it is very likely that he may fall in love with one of them, and therefore you must visit him as soon as he comes." "I see no occasion for that. You and the girls may go--or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better; for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party." "My dear, you flatter me. I certainly have had my share of beauty, but I do not pretend to be anything extraordinary now. When a woman has five grown-up daughters, she ought to give over thinking of her own beauty."
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How it works

This three minute typing test swaps the one-minute sprint for real prose: 15 passages from the opening chapters of Pride and Prejudice (1813) and Three Men in a Boat (1889). Finish a passage early and the next follows on.

Read the full guide

What three minutes shows that one minute hides

In a one-minute test a fast first twenty seconds is a third of the score. Over three minutes the same burst is a ninth, so what counts is the pace you hold while capitals, commas and speech marks keep coming. Five characters make a standard word, so the shortest passage, Mrs. Bennet Reports the Ball, at 2,047 characters, lasts three minutes at up to 136 WPM.

A self-test, not a certificate

If you need a three or five minute score for a job form, practise here, but do not quote this result: nobody checks who is at the keyboard. The page names no pass mark, because the employer sets that. Ask for the current rule, then practise at the same length.

  • Type a dash as two hyphens with no spaces, the way this page sets it. Two broken-off speeches in the Austen end on four.
  • Match the printed spelling: develope, ancle, to-morrow and sea-side are correct here.
  • No passage fills ten minutes alone: at 60 WPM that is 3,000 characters, and the longest, Rest and a Complete Change, has 2,902. The next passage follows on, so a run lasts its full length.

Questions and answers

Why is my typing test 3 minute score different from my one minute score?

Usually because the text is harder. These passages have capitals, speech marks and semicolons, while a one-minute test on common words is mostly lower case. Every error you stop to fix costs time. To compare fairly, type the same passage for three minutes, then five.

Can I put this result on a job application?

No. It is an unverified self-test: the page cannot know who typed or whether they had seen the text before, and it gives no certificate. Practise here so the real test is not your first three minutes without a break.

Why these two books?

Both are in the public domain in the United States, first published in 1813 and 1889, and they type differently. The Austen follows the George Allen edition (London, 1894), the Jerome the first edition (Bristol, 1889). The Austen chapters are dialogue, with up to 38 speech marks a passage and long sentences hung on semicolons. The Jerome chapter is full of dashes and hyphens, and A Hospital in Myself uses the word I 50 times.

All 15 passages

Pride and Prejudice (1813), chapters 1 to 3 8

  • A Truth Universally Acknowledged The famous opening sentence, then Mrs. Bennet's news that Netherfield Park is let. Nearly all of it is talk, with 36 speech marks to open and close. Austen often puts a semicolon where we would use a comma, as in returned she; and her one dash here is set as two hyphens: may go--or. Chapter 1, part 1 of 2. 426 words, 2,190 characters, 438 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 146 WPM.
  • Mrs. Bennet's Poor Nerves The rest of chapter 1. Two spellings belong to this edition and must be typed as printed: new comers as two words, and develope with a final e. Replied he: puts a colon, not a comma, before the speech mark. Chapter 1, part 2 of 2. 421 words, 2,251 characters, 450 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 150 WPM.
  • Mr. Bennet Pays the Visit Chapter 2 opens. Addressed her with,-- ends in a comma and a dash together, typed as a comma and two hyphens. To-morrow keeps its hyphen, and Kitty's cough brings the only contraction, Don't. Chapter 2, part 1 of 2. 388 words, 2,113 characters, 423 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 140 WPM.
Show all 15 passages (12 more)

Pride and Prejudice (1813), chapters 1 to 3, continued

  • Kitty May Cough The end of chapter 2, with four question marks and three exclamation marks to reach with Shift. In Nonsense, nonsense! the mark sits inside the closing speech mark. The only contraction is Lydia's I'm the tallest. Chapter 2, part 2 of 2. 409 words, 2,153 characters, 431 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 143 WPM.
  • A Blue Coat and a Black Horse Chapter 3 opens with story and hardly any talk: one spoken sentence in 458 words. The long sentences hang on 8 semicolons, and despatched and etc. are typed as the edition prints them. Chapter 3, part 1 of 4. 458 words, 2,606 characters, 521 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 173 WPM.
  • Ten Thousand a Year Mr. Darcy walks in. There is no dialogue, so not one speech mark, and the sentence that starts The gentlemen pronounced him runs to 91 words. Good practice for keeping a rhythm through commas and semicolons. Chapter 3, part 2 of 4. 369 words, 2,153 characters, 431 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 143 WPM.
  • Not Handsome Enough to Tempt Me The snub at the ball. Type the colon in She is tolerable: but not handsome enough to tempt me. Honour, humour and neighbourhood all carry the British u. Chapter 3, part 3 of 4. 491 words, 2,723 characters, 545 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 181 WPM.
  • Mrs. Bennet Reports the Ball The end of chapter 3. Mrs. Bennet is cut off twice, and each time the edition sets four hyphens before the closing speech mark. Ancle is this edition's spelling, and O that he had sprained starts with a capital O standing alone. Chapter 3, part 4 of 4. 380 words, 2,047 characters, 409 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 136 WPM.

Three Men in a Boat (1889), chapter 1 7

  • Everything but Housemaid's Knee The book opens at the British Museum, where the narrator reads a medical book and finds he has every illness in it but one. One sentence carries 6 dashes, each typed as two hyphens with no spaces: typhoid fever--read the symptoms--discovered. Chapter 1, part 1 of 7. 457 words, 2,543 characters, 509 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 169 WPM.
  • A Hospital in Myself Short sentences in a row: I felt my pulse. I tried to feel my heart. The word I comes 50 times, so the left Shift and the full stop get no rest. A hundred and forty-seven is written out in words. Chapter 1, part 2 of 7. 566 words, 2,846 characters, 569 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 189 WPM.
  • The Doctor's Prescription The only passage with digits: 1 lb. beefsteak, with 1 pt. bitter beer every 6 hours. The abbreviations lb. and pt. take full stops, and co-operative, half-an-hour and hearth-rug keep their hyphens. Chapter 1, part 3 of 7. 507 words, 2,647 characters, 529 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 176 WPM.
  • Rest and a Complete Change The longest passage, at 2,902 characters. George's made-up word family-physicianary is the longest in the set at 19 characters, hyphen included, and every day of the week turns up with its capital, Monday twice. Chapter 1, part 4 of 7. 534 words, 2,902 characters, 580 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 193 WPM.
  • Two Pounds Five for the Week Hyphens everywhere: brother-in-law three times, bilious-looking, sea-side, North-Western and two-pound-five. The dinner menu is a list of nine dishes split by commas, from soup to dessert. Chapter 1, part 5 of 7. 443 words, 2,460 characters, 492 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 164 WPM.
  • Nobody Is Sea-Sick on Land Brackets appear: (I mean that the biscuits were thin, not the captain). Two pounds' worth has its apostrophe after the s, and Hi! come further in keeps a small c after the exclamation mark. Chapter 1, part 6 of 7. 539 words, 2,763 characters, 553 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 184 WPM.
  • Montmorency Objects The end of chapter 1. The letter T sits in speech marks three times, and in to a "T." the full stop goes inside the closing mark. The Latin ad lib. has a full stop of its own. Montmorency, the dog, has the last speech. Chapter 1, part 7 of 7. 487 words, 2,587 characters, 517 standard words: three minutes of text at up to 172 WPM.

How this list was compiled: Fifteen passages. Eight are the whole of chapters 1, 2 and 3 of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, first published in 1813 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_and_Prejudice), in the text of the illustrated George Allen edition (London, 1894), which is where spellings such as develope, ancle and new comers come from. Seven are the whole of chapter 1 of Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome, first published in 1889 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Men_in_a_Boat), in the text of the first edition (Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith, 1889). Both editions were published before 1931, so both are in the public domain in the United States (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_in_the_United_States). Each chapter was split at paragraph breaks into parts of near-equal length, every part under 3,000 characters, and the parts are listed in reading order so that a finished passage rolls into the next part of the same chapter; the parts of each Austen chapter join back into the chapter word for word. Changes to the text: hard-wrapped lines and paragraphs were joined with single spaces, the underscores that mark italics were removed, curly quotation marks were set straight, picture captions and the 1894 illustration credits were left out, and the list of contents that heads the Jerome chapter was dropped. Dashes: the Austen transcription sets a dash as two hyphens and they stay; in the Jerome file em dashes were set as two hyphens to match the Austen file (32 of them in these seven passages), and the four-hyphen dash that marks a broken-off speech in the Austen stays as four. Nothing else was altered. Words, characters, speech marks, semicolons and dashes were counted and the longest word found; characters divided by five give standard words (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Words_per_minute), and every count and spelling quoted in a note was checked. The speed up to which a passage lasts three minutes is its standard words divided by three, rounded down: below that speed a three minute run cannot reach the end of the passage. Titles of the parts, notes and grouping are own work. All checked 2026-09-19. Licence: Public domain in the United States: novels first published in 1813 and 1889, typed here from editions of 1894 (London: George Allen) and 1889 (Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith), all before 1931 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain_in_the_United_States). Part titles, notes and counts are own work.

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