diff --git a/erlang/words.erl b/erlang/words.erl
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b91529
--- /dev/null
+++ b/erlang/words.erl
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+-module(words).
+-export([count/1]).
+
+count(S) -> count(S, true, 0).
+
+count("", _, Total) -> Total;
+count([$ |Tail], _, Total) -> count(Tail, true, Total);
+count([_|Tail], false, Total) -> count(Tail, false, Total);
+count([_|Tail], true, Total) -> count(Tail, false, Total + 1).
\ No newline at end of file