Turn prose back into one item per line
Convert a sentence to a list when someone has sent you a serialised list inside a paragraph and you need the items back as rows. In the default List items mode the input is collapsed to a single spaced line, a trailing `.`, `!`, or `?` is dropped, and the text is split on commas and semicolons. Every other character, spaces included, stays inside the item.
The final cell is then cleaned up. `apples, bananas, and cherries` leaves `and cherries` as the last cell, so the leading conjunction is stripped to give `cherries`. `apples, bananas and cherries` leaves `bananas and cherries`, which is split in two. `and`, `or`, `plus`, and `&` are all recognised. Turn off Drop and/or to keep the conjunction verbatim.
Two other modes are available from the Split by control. Sentences breaks on `.`, `!`, and `?` and keeps the terminator on each line, which is what you want for a paragraph of prose rather than a serialised list. Words gives one word per line with surrounding punctuation trimmed. For splitting on a separator you choose yourself, use Split a list; to reverse a CSV row instead of a sentence, use Convert CSV to List.
How to use convert a sentence to a list
- 1Paste the sentence or paragraph into the input panel.
- 2Leave Split by on List items for a serialised list, or pick Sentences or Words.
- 3Leave Drop and/or on to remove the closing conjunction from the final item.
- 4Leave Drop final stop on to discard a trailing full stop, exclamation, or question mark.
- 5Turn on Dedupe to collapse repeats, then copy or download the list.
Keyboard shortcuts
Drive ListShift without touching the mouse.
What this tool actually does
Five concrete rules that decide where each line break lands.
Commas and semicolons are the only item boundaries
In List items mode the split happens on `,` and `;` only. Spaces never break an item, so `olive oil` stays on one line. That is the behaviour that separates this from Split a list, which splits on a separator you supply.
The closing conjunction is removed from the last item
With an Oxford comma the last cell reads `and cherries`, so the leading `and` is stripped. Without one the last cell reads `bananas and cherries`, so it is split into two items. `and`, `or`, `plus`, and `&` are all handled.
An Oxford comma is what protects a genuine phrase
In `salt and pepper, olive oil, and garlic` the Oxford comma marks the real boundary, so `salt and pepper` survives as one item. In `olive oil and salt and pepper` there is no comma to go on and the tool cannot tell which `and` joins the list, so expect to fix that case by hand.
Whitespace is collapsed before the split
Runs of spaces, tabs, and newlines become a single space, so a paragraph wrapped across several lines parses the same as one that is not. Each resulting item is then trimmed and empty cells are dropped.
Sentences mode keeps the terminator, Words mode strips punctuation
Sentences breaks on the whitespace after a `.`, `!`, or `?`, keeping any closing quote or bracket with the sentence it belongs to. It reads punctuation, not grammar, so an abbreviation such as `Dr.` starts a new line. Words splits on whitespace and trims leading and trailing punctuation from each word, so `jumped!` becomes `jumped`.
Worked example
The Oxford comma before `and fresh basil` marks the real boundary, so `salt and pepper` survives as one item while the closing `and` and the full stop are dropped.
salt and pepper, olive oil, garlic, and fresh basil.
salt and pepper olive oil garlic fresh basil
Settings reference
How each option changes the output, using the sample sentence above as the input.
| Setting | What it does | Effect on the sample |
|---|---|---|
| Split by: List items (default) | Splits on commas and semicolons | Gives 5 lines: tomato, basil, olive oil, garlic, mozzarella |
| Split by: Sentences | Splits on the whitespace after . ! or ?, keeping the mark and any closing quote | The sample is one sentence, so it comes back unchanged on a single line |
| Split by: Words | Splits on whitespace, trimming punctuation off each word | Gives 7 lines, including `olive` and `oil` separately and `and` on its own |
| Drop and/or: on (default) | Strips the closing conjunction from the final item | Last line is `mozzarella` |
| Drop and/or: off | Leaves the conjunction in place | Last line is `and mozzarella` |
| Drop final stop: on (default) | Removes a trailing . ! or ? before splitting | Last line is `mozzarella` |
| Drop final stop: off | Keeps the terminator on the final item | Last line is `mozzarella.` |
| Dedupe: on | Collapses repeated items, keeping first-seen order | No repeats in the sample, so no change |
| Whitespace (automatic) | Runs of spaces, tabs, and newlines collapse to one space | A paragraph wrapped over several lines parses the same |
| Blank items (automatic) | Empty cells from a double comma are dropped | No blank lines in the output |