diff --git a/src/view/katestatusbar.cpp b/src/view/katestatusbar.cpp
--- a/src/view/katestatusbar.cpp
+++ b/src/view/katestatusbar.cpp
@@ -537,7 +537,11 @@
 void KateStatusBar::wordCountChanged(int wordsInDocument, int wordsInSelection, int charsInDocument, int charsInSelection)
 {
     if (m_wordCounter) {
-        m_wordCount = i18n("Words %1/%2, Chars %3/%4", wordsInDocument, wordsInSelection, charsInDocument, charsInSelection);
+        m_wordCount = i18nc(
+            "%1 and %3 are the selected words/chars count, %2 and %4 are the total words/chars count.",
+            "Words %1/%2, Chars %3/%4",
+            wordsInSelection, wordsInDocument, charsInSelection, charsInDocument
+        );
     } else {
         m_wordCount.clear();
     }