What is a syllable?

  • A syllable is the sound of a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) that is created when pronouncing the letters A, E, I, O, U, or Y.
  • The letter "Y" is a vowel only if it creates an A, E, I, O, or U sound.
    • examples:  fry, try, cry, & dry
  • The number of times that you hear the sound of a vowel is the number of syllables in a word.
  • When two (or more) vowels are next to each other, the number of syllables depends on the number of vowel sounds.
    • examplesfree (1 syllable), eat (1 syllable), & bio (2 syllables)
  • If a vowel is silent, it is not counted as a syllable.
    • examplefire (1 syllable)
  • Does the word end with "le" or "les?" This is a syllable if the letter before the "le" is a consonant.
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Fun Fact
Vacuum has 3 syllables:
vac-u-um

Syllable Examples

Free
  • 1 syllable: free
  • pronounced: free
  • Listen:
Eat
  • 1 syllable: eat
  • pronounced: eet
  • Listen:
Eating
  • 2 syllables: eat-ing
  • pronounced: eet-ing
  • Listen:
Bio
  • 2 syllables: bi-o
  • pronounced: bi-oh
  • Listen:
Fire
  • 1 syllable: fire
  • pronounced: f-eye-r
  • Listen:
Cake
  • 1 syllable: cake
  • pronounced: kay-k
  • Listen:
Cheese
  • 1 syllable: cheese
  • pronounced: chees
  • Listen:
Chicken
  • 2 syllables: chick-en
  • pronounced: chik-in
  • Listen:
Checked
  • 1 syllable: checked
  • pronounced: chek-d
  • Listen:
Batted
  • 2 syllables: bat-ted
  • pronounced: bat-ed
  • Listen:
Worrying
  • 3 syllables: wor-ry-ing
  • pronounced: wah-ree-ing
  • Listen:
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