Simple wrapping at word boundaries
Input
wrap_text('The quick brown fox', 10)
Output
'The quick\nbrown fox'
First line 'The quick' length 9 <= 10, second line contains remaining words.
Full lesson preview
Wrap text to a fixed line width
Break a string into lines no longer than a given width, breaking on spaces when possible.
Python practice30 minString PatternsAdvancedLast updated March 18, 2026
Problem statement
Write wrap_text(text, width) that returns a string with newline characters inserted so that each output line has length <= width. Treat existing newline characters as paragraph separators: wrap each paragraph independently and preserve blank lines. When possible, break lines at whitespace between words; if a single word is longer than width, split the word into chunks of size width. Width must be an integer >= 1. Collapse consecutive whitespace between words into a single space when wrapping (i.e., treat words as separated by any whitespace).
Task
Implement a function that wraps text to a maximum line width, preserving existing paragraph breaks and splitting long words when necessary.
Examples
Breaking long words
Input
wrap_text('Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious', 10)
Output
'Supercalif\nragilistic\nexpialidoc\nious'
A single long word is split into chunks of width 10.
Input format
text (string), width (int >= 1).
Output format
A string with newline separators such that each line's length <= width.
Constraints
Do not use external libraries. Preserve blank lines. Collapse internal whitespace into single spaces when wrapping words.
Samples
Sample 1
Input
wrap_text('Hello world', 5)
Output
'Hello\nworld'
Both words fit exactly on separate lines when width is 5.