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How to Separate Words Into Syllables

The groups of sounds that compose words are known as "syllables." Language is built upon these basic units of uninterrupted sounds. Syllables are made up of either a vowel sound or a vowel sound plus a consonant sound. If you want to separate words into syllables, you can do so by following a systematic method of counting these units. The skill of being able to divide words into syllables can improve your reading and spelling abilities.

Instructions

    • 1

      Divide a word between two double letters in the middle of a word. For example, you would divide "butter" as but-ter.

    • 2

      Divide a word just before a single consonant in the middle of the word if the beginning of the word has a beginning long sound. For instance, you would divide the word "radar" as ra-dar. If the word has a short beginning sound, divide it after the middle consonant, as in the case of "cabin:" ca-bin.

    • 3

      Divide compound words between the two words as in the word "playground:" play-ground.

    • 4

      Divide words before prefixes and after suffixes. An example of a prefix division would be "preschool:" pre-school. An example of a suffix division would be "jumping:" jump-ing.

    • 5

      Divide words that have an "le" that sounds like "el" before the consonant that precedes the "le." For instance, you would divide "ramble" as ram-ble. The exception is if a word has a "ck" before the "le," in which case you would divide after the "ck" as in "chuckle:" chuck-le.

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