the types of syllables in English

1. Made by Abdimominov M

2.  A syllable is an uninterrupted segment of sound which is
formed by the opening and closing the mouth to form
vowels. It consists of one or more letters with one vowel
sound. This means that we hear one vowel sound in every
syllable.
 So for example, the words cat and boat have 1 syllable
because we hear one vowel sound in each word. The
words cupcake and dinner have 2 syllables because we hear
2 vowel sounds in these words.
 As you can see, it’s not as simple as identifying the vowels
in a word and using that number, since sometimes 2 vowels
make 1 sound, as in the word boat.

3.  To count syllables, you may have done that thing where you put
your hand under your chin to count how many times your mouth
opens when you say a word. This works because your mouth
must open wide when making vowel sounds. But I find it’s more
accurate to hum the word and count the hums.
 For example, with the word purple, you would hum hum-
hum and that clearly sounds like 2 parts of a word. Using the
hand under the chin method with the word purple might
produce an inaccurate result because our mouths don’t open very
wide for the vowel sound in -ple.
 I also give my students a mirror so they can watch their mouth
formation when vocalizing vowel sounds compared to
consonants. They can easily see the visual of their mouth
opening to make vowel sounds, which is the part we count for
syllables.

4.  So now that we know what a syllable is and how to count them, you
may be wondering why anyone would need to know this.
 When I went to elementary school in the ’90s, syllables were not
taught. I never learned any of the spelling rules or phonics but I had
great memory and somehow I internalized spelling rules through
exposure.
 But if you or your students are like most people, they are perplexed by
English spelling rules that “don’t make sense!” But that simply is not
the case. There are many rules that govern how we read and spell and
not as many exceptions as most people think.
 Syllable rules are very important to know for spelling and decoding,
and critical to teach to students who struggle in either reading or
spelling.
 Knowing the different syllable patterns and how to split words into
syllables helps students decode and spell words correctly. They can
predict what sound a vowel will make and break up longer words into
smaller parts for easier reading.

5.  There are 6 syllable types and they are:
 Closed syllable
 Open syllable
 Vowel-consonant-e syllable
 Diphthong (vowel team) syllable
 R-controlled syllable
 Consonant-le syllable

6.  An open syllable ends with a vowel. The vowel has a
long sound. Some examples are: go, me, I, a, cry.
 The open syllable should be taught along with or after
the closed syllable. Just as students are familiar with
closed syllables in first grade, they are also familiar
with many open syllable words like me and go.

7.  A closed syllable ends in a consonant. The vowel
before the final consonant has a short sound.
Examples include: cat, red, on, went.
 This is the first type of syllable that is taught, usually
in first grade. By this point, students are very familiar
with closed syllable words such as CVC words

8.  Vowel-consonant-e syllables end in a final silent e with
a consonant just before the silent e. This silent e makes
the vowel before it have a long sound. Examples
include: home, fine, cute.
 This syllable type is called many things, such as silent
e, magie e, sneaky e.
 This syllable should be taught after students know
short and long vowel sounds, and closed and open
syllables. It’s a good transition to go from closed
syllable to VCE by adding the silent e to CVC words.

9.  R-controlled syllables always have at least one vowel
followed by r. The r gives it a unique sound. Some
examples are: her, bird, fur, ear, for.
 This should be taught after open, closed, and VCE
syllables. First and second grade are usually when this
syllable is taught and practiced.

10.  A diphthong syllable usually has 2 adjacent vowels that
are pronounced together. This produces a special
sound; examples include: eight, grow, tail, fight.
 Notice whether a vowel combination is reversed, such
as io in lion., In this case you split the syllable between
the i and o.
 This syllable is also known as a vowel team. This is
taught starting in first grade but there are some tricky
ones that can be left for second grade.

11.  A consonant-le syllable has no vowel sound. The
silent e at the end of the syllable is the only vowel.
Only the consonant and the l are pronounced.
Examples include: purple, table, maple.
 This is the last syllable type to teach once the student
has mastered the other 5, usually in second grade.