Syllable Rules

A syllable is a basic unit of written
and spoken language. It is a unit
consisting of uninterrupted sound
that can be used to make up words.
For example, the word hotel has two
syllables: ho and tel. These will be
marked here as in ho/tel .
Counting Syllables
To find the number of syllables in a
word, use the following steps:

1. Count the vowels in the word.

2. Subtract any silent vowels, (like the
silent e at the end of a word, or the
second vowel when two vowels are
together in a syllabl.e)

3. Subtract one vowel from every
diphthong (diphthongs only count as
one vowel sound.)

4. The number of vowels sounds left is
the same as the number of syllables.

The number of syllables that you hear
when you pronounce a word is the
same as the number of vowels
sounds heard. For example:
The word came has 2 vowels, but the
e is silent, leaving one vowel sound
andone syllable.
The word outside has 4 vowels, but
the e is silent and the ou is a
diphthong which counts as only one
sound, so this word has only two
vowel sounds and therefore, two
syllables.

Six Kinds of Syllables

There are six different kinds of
syllables in English:

1. Closed Syllables: A closed syllable
has one and only one vowel, and it
ends in a consonant. Examples
include in, ask , truck, sock, stretch,
twelfth , and on.

2. Open Syllables: An open syllable has
one and only one vowel, and that
vowel occurs at the end of the
syllable. Examples include no, she, I,
a , and spry .

3. Silent-E Syllables: A silent-e syllable
ends in an e , has one and only one
consonant before that e , and has one
and only one vowel before that
consonant. Examples include ate , ice ,
tune , slope, strobe , and these.

4. Vowel Combination Syllables: A
vowel combination syllable has a
cluster of two or three vowels or a
vowel-consonant unit with a sound or
sounds particular to that unit.
Examples include rain , day, see, veil,
pie , piece, noise, toy , cue, and true.

5. Vowel-R Syllables: A vowel-r syllable
is one which includes one and only
one vowel followed by an r, or one
vowel followed by an r which is
followed by a silent e , or a vowel
combination followed by an r .
Examples include car , or, care, ire,
air , and deer .

6. Consonant-L-E Syllables: In these
syllables, a consonant is followed by
le . The vowel sound in these syllables
is the schwa sound that occurs before
the l. Examples include -ble , -cle , -
dle , -fle , and -gle .

Dividing Words Into Syllables

There are four ways to split up a word
into its syllables:

1. Divide between two middle
consonants.
Split up words that have two middle
consonants. For example:
hap/pen, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per,
din/ner, and Den/nis. The only
exceptions are the consonant
digraphs. Never split up consonant
digraphs as they really represent only
one sound. The exceptions are "th",
"sh", "ph", "th", "ch", and "wh".

2. Usually divide before a single
middle consonant.
When there is only one syllable, you
usually divide in front of it, as in:
"o/pen", "i/tem", "e/vil", and "re/
port". The only exceptions are those
times when the first syllable has an
obvious short sound , as in "cab/in".

3. Divide before the consonant
before an "-le" syllable.
When you have a word that has the
old-style spelling in which the "-le"
sounds like "-el", divide before the
consonant before the "-le". For
example: "a/ble", "fum/ble", "rub/
ble" "mum/ble" and "thi/stle". The
only exception to this are "ckle" words
like "tick/le".

4. Divide off any compound words,
prefixes, suffixes and roots which
have vowel sounds.
Split off the parts of compound words
like "sports/car" and "house/boat".
Divide off prefixes such at "un/
happy", "pre/paid", or "re/write". Also
divide off suffixes as in the words
"farm/er", "teach/er", "hope/less" and
"care/ful". In the word "stop/ping",
the suffix is actually "-ping" because
this word follows the rule that when
you add "-ing" to a word with one
syllable, you double the last
consonant and add the "-ing".