Bob, thanks for the link.

Problem with your solution when @count < word count of description then nothing returned here's a fix:

declare @count int

set @count = 10000

DECLARE @temp1 TABLE (ID INT IDENTITY(1,1) PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED, TextDescription VARCHAR(255))

INSERT INTO @temp1

SELECT 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.' UNION ALL

SELECT 'Nullam a libero et dui tristique malesuada.' UNION ALL

SELECT 'Donec ultricies sollicitudin magna, eu gravida lectus fringilla ut.' UNION ALL

SELECT 'Nunc vestibulum elit tincidunt velit pellentesque feugiat.' UNION ALL

SELECT 'Aliquam eu purus a neque fringilla porta.' UNION ALL

SELECT 'Fusce pretium justo vitae mauris tempor porttitor tincidunt orci laoreet.'

;with tally (N) as

(select row_number() over(order by (select null)) from master.sys.all_columns)

select id, max(left(textDescription,N-1)) as sub_string

from @temp1

cross apply (select Row_Number() over (order by N) as X, N

from tally

where substring(textDescription,N,1) = ' '

and N <= len(textDescription)

) ca

where ca.X <= @count

group by id