Lesson # 19

What is a syllable?

A syllable is formed as the mouth opens to say vowels and closes to say
consonants. This act of opening and closing creates the rhythm in words.

Every syllable must have a vowel, and every vowel makes a syllable. This
means that the number of vowels in a word is equal to the number of syllables.
It is the vowel that forms the syllable; syllables do not need to include
a consonant. Syllables may, of course, include one or more consonants at the
beginning or end, but a vowel can form a whole syllable on its own.

How to count syllables

Being able to recognize and count the number of syllables in a word is a

foundational skill for success in reading and spelling. It enables students to
chunk words accurately for decoding and segment words for spelling. Since the
mouth opens to say the vowel sound, the easiest way to count the number of
syllables in a spoken word is by placing your hand under your chin and feeling
the number of times the mouth drops open to say a vowel.

Try it! Place your hand under your chin and say bookshelf. How many times did
your mouth open? It should have been two.

Another way to count syllables is to hum the word. Since vowels are the sounds
that can be sustained, they are the sounds that we sing or hum. Therefore,
when we hum a word we are actually counting the number of vowel sounds -
and thus the number of syllables!

Try to hum computer. How many “hums” did you hear? It should have been
three.

Comprehending syllables first requires an accurate understanding of

consonants and vowels.

Every word is made from syllables.

Each word has one, two, three or more syllables.
 Word Number of Syllables

dog dog 1

green green 1

quite quite 1

quiet qui-et 2

orange or-ange 2

table ta-ble 2

expensive ex-pen-sive 3

interesting in-ter-est-ing 4

unrealistic un-rea-lis-tic 4

unexceptional un-ex-cep-tio-nal 5

Notice that (with a few rare exceptions) every syllable contains at least
one vowel (a, e, i, o or u) or vowel sound.
1. Pronunciation Syllables
Activity 1: Put the words into the correct columns. Look at the examples first.

(  = one syllable,  = 2 syllables)

bring answer awful balloon bored bought cheap

clever clothes crashed concrete friend funny ghost
habit improve lorry match miner plants played
problem shampoo sign

Column 1 Column 2

 
bring answer

Activity 2: Practice saying the words in Column 1, then Column 2.

Activity 3: Practice saying these phrases.

1. cheap clothes 8. balloon crashed

2. funny ghost 9. bored miner
3. improve shampoo 10. played match
4. awful problem 11. clever habit
5. concrete sign 12. awful friend
6. bring clothes 13. bought plants
7. lorry crashed 14. funny question
2. Pronunciation Syllables
Activity 1: Put the words into the correct columns. Look at the examples first.

( = 2 syllables,  = 3 syllables)

attention women cigarette challenge crowded decisions develop

discuss horrible disappear enough exam fluently honey
introduce lovely married personal prison pyramid regular
understand ugly weather

Column 1 Column 2

 
women attention

Activity 2: Practice saying the words in Column 1, then Column 2.

Activity 3: Practice saying these phrases.

1. enough honey 8. introduce fluently
2. ugly prison 9. regular exams
3. lovely pyramid 10. horrible weather
4. understand enough 11. making decisions
5. married women 12. develop enough
6. personal challenge 13. personal attention
7. crowded prison 14. discuss decisions
 3. Pronunciation Syllables
Activity 1: Put the words into the correct columns. Look at the examples first.

( = 3 syllables,  = 4 syllables)

adventure American ambitious attention attractive celebrity conversation

education exactly proposal incredible intelligent invention invisible
invitation opinion photographer pollution preposition professional tradition
translation unfriendly unexpected

Column 1 Column 2

 
adventure American

Activity 2: Practice saying the words in Column 1, then Column 2.

Activity 3: Practice saying these phrases.
1. American adventure
2. attractive celebrity
3. invisible pollution
4. incredible proposal
5. unexpected tradition
6. incredible education
7. American photographer
8. professional translation
9. intelligent invention
10. ambitious photographer
11. unfriendly celebrity
12. incredible conversation
13. intelligent translation
14. incredible invention
4. Pronunciation Syllables
Activity 1: Put the words into the correct columns. Look at the examples first.

( = 2 syllables,  = 3 syllables)

apples languages cabbages bottles centres circles countries

entrances images lettuces machines milkshakes minutes mistakes
notices offices oranges pictures pirates programmers promises
sentences surprises villages

Column 1 Column 2

 
apples languages

Activity 2: Practice saying the words in Column 1, then Column 2.

Activity 3: Practice saying these phrases.
1. cabbages and lettuces
2. pirates and promises
3. pictures and images
4. countries and villages
5. apples and oranges
6. notices and programmers
7. languages and countries
8. bottles and circles
9. offices and entrances
10. milkshakes and minutes
11. machines and mistakes
12. notices and surprises
13. languages and sentences
14. offices and machines
5. Pronunciation Syllables
Activity 1: Put the words into the correct columns. Look at the examples first.

(= 1 syllable,  = 2 syllables)

asked acted closed helped hunted kissed landed

lifted melted mended played pointed pulled rained
rented parted started showed turned used waited
wanted washed watched

Column 1 Column 2

 
asked acted

Activity 2: Practice saying the words in Column 1, then Column 2.

Activity 3: Practice saying these phrases.
1. turned and waited 8. pulled and closed
2. helped and mended 9. showed and rented
3. pointed and asked 10. started and parted
4. played and acted 11. watched and hunted
5. rained and melted 12. lifted and used
6. wanted and kissed 13. landed and started
7. watched and waited 14. washed and used
6. Pronunciation Syllables
Activity 1: Put the words into the correct columns. Look at the examples first.

( = 2 syllables, = 3 syllables)

attached connected answered borrowed corrected created decided

discussed divided finished invented ordered presented produced
promised pronounced protected relaxed reported respected returned
succeeded translated travelled

Column 1 Column 2

 
attached connected

Activity 2: Practice saying the words in Column 1, then Column 2.

Activity 3: Practice saying these phrases.
1. attached and connected 8. ordered and returned
2. answered and corrected 9. relaxed and discussed
3. created and translated 10. reported and pronounced
4. travelled and succeeded 11. decided and promised
5. invented and created 12. borrowed and divided
6. produced and presented 13. answered and promised
7. respected and protected 14. finished and relaxed