str_word_count() function to count words used with their position in a string

$str="Welcome to Plus2net.com to learn PHP";
echo str_word_count($str); // Output is 8

Syntax

str_word_count ( $input_string, int $format, $char_list)

Parameter	DESCRIPTION
$input_string	Required : Input string
$format	Optional : 0 : Output gives number of words found. ( default ) 1 : Output gives an array with all the words present in Input string 2 : Output gives an associative array with key giving position of the word inside the string with value holding the Word.
$char_list	Optional : Additional chars to be considered as Word.

Output is integer ( if $format is 0 ) showing number of words present OR an array ( if $format is 1 or 2 )

With $format = 1 output will be an array. We will display the elements of the array.

$str="Welcome to Plus2net.com to learn PHP";
$ar=str_word_count($str,1); // Output is an array. 

while (list ($key, $val) = each ($ar)) {
echo "$key -> $val <br> ";
}

Output is here

0 -> Welcome 
1 -> to 
2 -> Plus 
3 -> net 
4 -> com 
5 -> to 
6 -> learn 
7 -> PHP

By using $format=2 we will get associative array showing key as position of the words.

$str="Welcome to Plus2net.com to learn PHP";
$ar=str_word_count($str,2); // Output is an array. 

while (list ($key, $val) = each ($ar)) {
echo "$key -> $val <br> ";
}

Output is here

0 -> Welcome 
8 -> to 
11 -> Plus 
16 -> net 
20 -> com 
24 -> to 
27 -> learn 
33 -> PHP

By adding optional parameter $char_list, we will add additional chars to consider as Word

$str="Welcome to Plus2net.com to learn PHP";
$ar=str_word_count($str,1,'2'); 

while (list ($key, $val) = each ($ar)) {
echo "$key -> $val <br> ";
}

Output is here

0 -> Welcome 
1 -> to 
2 -> Plus2net 
3 -> com 
4 -> to 
5 -> learn 
6 -> PHP

Now let us add . and 2 to char list to consider as Word

$str="Welcome to Plus2net.com to learn PHP";
$ar=str_word_count($str,1,'2,.'); 

while (list ($key, $val) = each ($ar)) {
echo "$key -> $val <br> ";
}

Output is here

0 -> Welcome 
1 -> to 
2 -> Plus2net.com 
3 -> to 
4 -> learn 
5 -> PHP

With associative array to show position of the words inside the string

$str="Welcome to Plus2net.com to learn PHP";
$ar=str_word_count($str,2,'2,.'); 

while (list ($key, $val) = each ($ar)) {
echo "$key -> $val <br> ";
}

Output is here

0 -> Welcome 
8 -> to 
11 -> Plus2net.com 
24 -> to 
27 -> learn 
33 -> PHP

By using above code to list out words present in a string, we can count the frequency of occurrence of each word by using array_count_values()

$str="Welcome to Plus2net.com to learn PHP";
$ar=array_count_values(str_word_count($str,1,'2,.')); 

while (list ($key, $val) = each ($ar)) {
echo "$key -> $val <br> ";
}

Output is here

Welcome -> 1 
to -> 2 
Plus2net.com -> 1 
learn -> 1 
PHP -> 1

String Functions Check for all upper case letters or all lower case letters. Counting Sub string inside a string explode(): Breaking a string

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

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str_word_count(): counting & Position of words in a String

Subhendu Mohapatra