Why QWERTY gives the left hand more work
The imbalance comes from a simple collision between which letters English uses often and where QWERTY places them. Several frequent letters—E, T, A, R, and S—are on the left, so ordinary words call on that hand repeatedly. The keyboard’s layout turns the language’s uneven letter frequencies into an uneven workload.
A keystroke count is not the same as a count of distinct letters: a letter that appears often in everyday writing contributes far more than a rare one. The exact left-hand share therefore shifts with the text being typed. Names, technical terms, punctuation, and numbers can change the balance; so can a typist’s habits and keyboard layout.
What the percentage does—and doesn’t—mean
The roughly 56% figure describes a typical pattern across English typing, not a rule that every sentence or every typist follows. It also assumes the conventional division of work in touch typing, with the left hand responsible for the keyboard’s left-side keys. People who use different fingerings may distribute the effort differently.
That small-looking majority adds up over a long document: the left hand may press more keys simply because English repeatedly asks for letters located on its side. QWERTY makes the language’s most common characters a physical matter of reaching and tapping.
