How many words fit in a 5, 10 or 15-second AI video clip?

The short answer

For English dialogue, plan on about 9 words for a 5-second clip, 20 words for 10 seconds and 31 words for 15 seconds. Go much past that and the AI either rushes the line or cuts it off before the end.

These numbers assume a natural, slightly urgent speaking pace — the pace AI video models like Seedance and Kling tend to use for drama scenes. They are a planning guide, not a guarantee.

Where the numbers come from

Cut Maker estimates speaking time with a few simple rules:

• Speaking speed: about 2.3 words per second in English.
• A breath at the start: 0.4 seconds per cut, so the first word isn't clipped.
• Sentence endings: 0.3 seconds for each period, question mark or exclamation mark. Commas add 0.15 seconds.
• Actions: stage directions like (walks 2s) use the time you give them.

The table assumes one sentence in a 5-second clip, two in 10 seconds and three in 15 seconds.

Words per clip, by language

Korean, Chinese and Japanese are counted by syllable or character instead of words.

An example

If a line is important, don't squeeze it. Split it across two cuts, or choose a longer clip length.

Three quick rules

1. Leave about half a second of air at the start and end of every clip.
2. Count stage directions. A character walking for two seconds is two seconds without dialogue.
3. When two characters talk in one clip, add a short gap for each change of speaker.