Syllabication Types & Rules

This page will teach you about syllabication types & rules. Read on for some great teaching ideas and informational links!

Syllables are the beats that compose a word when you speak it.

Check out Strong Reader! It breaks your copied and pasted text into syllables for more effortless reading – for FREE!

Here is a 344-page unit! Check it out!

Assign these virtual syllabication games!

Here are FREE stories from UFLI to teach syllabication! The stories listed below are their multisyllabic word stories.

Helpful links:

WHY STUDY SYLLABLES? The syllable type controls the vowel sound. Since vowels can make different sounds, identifying the syllable usually identifies the correct vowel sound. Syllabication teaches students to read unknown words, increases their sight-word vocabulary, and aids in learning how to spell words (Torgesen, 2004; Moats, 2001; Curtis & Longo, 1999). Instruction in syllable skills helps to remediate and increase achievement in word attack, word identification, and reading comprehension and increases fluency faster (Diliberto, Beattie, Flowers, & Algozzine, 2009).

WHY DOES THE DICTIONARY HAVE DIFFERENT SYLLABLE RULES? The difference is that the dictionary divides by morphemes, not phonemes. In decoding, we have students divide words by syllable division rules, as in bi/king. The dictionary divides by morphemes bīk-ing because they focus on the word’s meaning. The dictionary puts a macron over the i to tell you the vowel sound is long.

When students are working on decoding, we use syllabication rules. We teach root words and affixes when they have moved from decoding to word analysis and morphology. The dictionary always uses the latter.

When you are reading and stuck on a word, follow these syllable types to decode the word!

Here are syllable assessments:

Syllable Types Student Pages Test

Six Syllable Types Test Teacher Pages

This test gives real and nonsense words for each phonetic pattern, plus soft c and g, -dge/-tch, multisyllabic words, word endings, and phonetically irregular words.
The scoring sheet breaks down the score for real versus nonsense words. It can be evident if a child memorizes common words but has not mastered phonetic patterns.
Progress Monitoring can also be recorded.
Students’ results determine where you begin your phonics instruction.

SIX SYLLABLE TYPES

Syllable types tell us the SOUND OF THE VOWEL! If a child can’t read a word, that means he does not know the syllable type. Teach students to identify syllable types in order to read!

Teach students to mark up syllables to show understanding.

1. In CLOSED (VC) syllables, there is only one vowel, the vowel is usually short, and there is at least one consonant at the end.

sad rab/bit (~ 2 closed syllables)

This pattern is the most common. There are 12 variations: CVC (cup), CVCC (hand), CCVCC (fresh), CCVC (trip), CVCCC (match), CVCCe (judge), CCVCCC (crutch), CCVCCe (grudge), CCCVCC (script), VCC (add), VC (in), VCCC (inch).

Exceptions to closed syllables making the soft vowel sound are the glued/welded sounds: ang, ank, old, ild, ind, olt, ost as in bang, bank, sold, wild, find, bolt, most.

2. The SILENT E (VCe) syllable is when there is one vowel followed by a consonant and a final e. The vowel is long, and the e is silent.

bone in/sane

This is the 3rd most common pattern. There are 4 variations: CVCe (race), CCVCe (shave), CCCVCe (strike), VCe (ate).

EXCEPTIONS: English words never end in v alone, so an e is there. The vowels are all short, as in have, olive, give.

3. The OPEN syllable (CV) is when the syllable ends with one vowel, which will be long.

go re/fer

This is the 4th most common pattern. There are 2 variations: CCV (she), CV (we).

EXCEPTIONS: The vowels a and i in an unstressed syllable, as in Tampa, Alaska, complicated, indicate.

4. The R CONTROLLED syllable (Vr) is when the vowel sound is changed when followed by r ~ ar, or, and these 3, which sound exactly the same: er, ir, ur. Remember Her turn first. Her bird burps.

farm/er corn

EXCEPTIONS: When the r is followed by another r, as in carry, berry, hurry, the preceding vowel is often short.

5. The DIPHTHONG syllable (VV) has a combination of 2 vowels standing together with one sound.

join main/stay

This is the 2nd most common pattern. There are 12 variations: CVVC (heat), CCVVC (treat), CVVCC (reach), CVV (pay), CCVV (play), CVVCe (leave), CCVVCC (bleach), CCVVCe (freeze), CCCVVC (sprain), VVC (oat), VVCC (each), CCCVV (three).

Vowel Teams

Definition: two vowels that say one sound (vowel digraph)

ā ~ ai ay ea ey ei eigh

ē ~ ee ey ea ie/ei y

ī ~ ie igh y

ō ~ oa oe ow

ū ~ ue eu ew

ǖ ~ ue ou eu ew oe ui oo

other ~ oo aw au oi oy

6. The CONSONANT LE syllable (Cle) is when a consonant is followed by le to form the syllable. The e is there because every syllable has a vowel in the English language.

bub/ble ri/fle

EXCEPTION: When a word ends in -stle, the t is silent as in castle, whistle.

Dividing Words Into Syllables

Separate the prefix and suffix
Label the vowels and consonants in the word. (ALWAYS start labeling with the 1st vowel.)
Look for the above syllable patterns.

OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION

When dividing “liquid” into syllables – remember that qu has 2 phonemes – /k/ /w/ – that’s where we divide it in speech (lik-wid). It gets tricky when one phonogram has 2 sounds.
Remember that sight words do not necessarily follow the syllabication rules; for example, have has a silent e, but a is the short sound. This is because English words never end in v alone, so the e is there.
Every syllable has one vowel sound.
The number of vowel sounds in a word equals the number of syllables. home sub/ject pub/lish/ing
A one-syllable word is never divided. stop feet bell
Consonant blends and digraphs are TYPICALLY NEVER separated. rest/ing bush/el reach/ing Keep this in mind when you have 4 medial consonants. Please read this pdf: We All Can Read (My examples of rest/ing and reach/ing demonstrate the rule of separating our prefixes and suffixes, and on a word like pub/lish/ing, again, the ing is isolated as its own syllable, but to separate it as publ/ish would not sound right. There are many exceptions to the rules of the English language.)
When there are 3 medial consonants, usually the first consonant goes with the first vowel, and the second two go with the second vowel. This is considered the 1st division rule. VC/CCV as in con/tract
When a word has a ck or x in it, the word is usually divided after the ck or x. nick/el tax/i
When two or more consonants come between two vowels in a word, it is usually divided BETWEEN the two consonants. sis/ter but/ter hun/gry
When a SINGLE consonant comes between two vowels in a word, it is divided AFTER the consonant if the vowel is SHORT. This is considered the 3rd division rule. lev/er cab/in hab/it
. . .but if this doesn’t sound right, divide BEFORE the consonant to make the vowel long! ba/sin fe/ver ma/jor
When 2 vowels come together in a word, sometimes they are sounded separately. Divide the word between the 2 vowels. di/et po/em ge/ode
A compound word is divided BETWEEN the two words that make the compound word. in/side foot/ball tooth/brush
tion and ture at the end of a word make their own syllable. lo/tion pos/ture
When a syllable or word ends in al or el, these are usually the last syllable. lev/el u/su/al
The past tense ed at the end of a word forms its own syllable only when preceded by d or t. want/ed fund/ed
Prefixes and suffixes make their own syllables. un/kind kind/ness thank/ful stuff/ing dis/like

Examples

little: lit – tle (Closed and -Cle)
petal: pet – al (Closed ~ because pe/tal isn’t a word)
turtle: tur – tle (Bossy r and -Cle)
ankle: an – kle (Closed and -Cle)
riddle: rid – dle (Closed and -Cle)
arrow: ar – row (Bossy r and Vowel Team ~ ow)
nickle: nick – el (ck is a digraph ~ don’t divide digraphs or blends)
cotton: cot – ton (2 Closed syllables)
student: stu – dent (Open and Closed)
teacher: teach – er (Vowel Team and Bossy R)
children: chil – dren (2 Closed)
pottery: pot – ter – y (Closed, Bossy R, Open)
learning: learn – ing (Vowel Team, Suffix)
textbook: text – book (Closed, Vowel Team)
watching: watch – ing (Closed, Suffix)
screaming: scream – ing (Vowel Team, Suffix)
misbehaving: mis – be – hav – ing (Prefix, Open, Closed, Suffix)

Check out Sarah Snippets! She has a unique way of teaching syllable division. Words are separated as follows, and then the students determine where the center consonants go!

Blends can’t be divided, and sk is a blend, but ba/sket doesn’t make sense! You can divide it in the center. The point of teaching syllabication is having a strategy to read and spell.

Students know blends can’t be divided. Which side should the cr go? Which way sounds right?

Students test out where the single center consonant goes. Which way sounds right?

How should the mpl be divided? Com is a prefix, and students will remember that blends (pl) cannot be divided, so com/plex would be the answer.

Edited on 03/07/2024

References

Credit to Mary Briggs for teaching these rules at the Orton Gillingham course at the Commonwealth Learning Center, Newton, MA, 2010.

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