How Many Pages Is 4,000 Words?
1 min read
Short answer
4,000 words in pages
Times New Roman 12pt with 1-inch margins, the usual academic setup.
| Spacing | US Letter | A4 |
|---|---|---|
| Single spaced | 8 pages | 7.7 pages |
| 1.5 spaced | 10.7 pages | 10.3 pages |
| Double spaced | 16 pages | 15.4 pages |
By font
US Letter, 1-inch margins. Google Docs starts in Arial 11pt; Word used Calibri 11pt for years before switching to Aptos.
| Font and size | Single spaced | Double spaced |
|---|---|---|
| Times New Roman 12pt | 8 | 16 |
| Arial 12pt | 9.2 | 18.4 |
| Arial 11pt | 7.7 | 15.5 |
| Calibri 12pt | 8.4 | 16.8 |
| Calibri 11pt | 7.1 | 14.1 |
- Paragraphs
- About 27 (20 to 40, at 100 to 200 words each)
- Characters
- About 23,200 including spaces
- Reading time
- 16 minutes 48 seconds at 238 words a minute
- Speaking time
- 26 minutes 40 seconds at 150 words a minute
- Handwritten
- About 16 sides of lined paperin average handwriting, about 250 words a side
Check your own numbers
16
Pages · double spaced
Every spacing
4,000 wordsAlso worth knowing
Estimates assume 12pt Times New Roman or Arial with 1-inch margins on US Letter or A4.
4,000 words and the Extended Essay
The best-known 4,000-word limit is the IB Diploma’s Extended Essay: an independent research paper of up to 4,000 words. Two things make this limit stricter than most:
- It is a maximum, not a target with a margin. There is no 10% allowance. Examiners stop reading at the limit.
- Most of what you write counts. Introduction, body, conclusion and quotations are all inside the limit; the bibliography and genuine reference notes are not.
So aim for 3,800 to 3,950 words in the final draft, and keep a running count as you edit.
Planning 4,000 words of research
| Section | Words |
|---|---|
| Introduction: research question and its significance | 400 |
| Background and sources | 600 |
| Method or approach | 400 |
| Analysis, part one | 900 |
| Analysis, part two | 900 |
| Evaluation and limitations | 450 |
| Conclusion | 350 |
The analysis should be at least half the essay. A common weakness is a long background section that summarises sources instead of using them to answer the research question.
When you are over
First drafts of 4,000-word essays often come in at 5,000. Cutting 1,000 words is a structural job: merge sections that make the same point, cut the paragraph that summarises a source you then summarise again in analysis, and move detailed data to an appendix if your subject allows it. The guide to reducing word count in an essay goes through it step by step.
Other 4,000-word pieces
Masters-level coursework essays, long magazine features and many conference papers also fall around 4,000 words. At 16 double-spaced pages, headings stop being optional: a reader needs to see the structure to follow the argument.