Syllables in English

A syllable is a unit of sound. A syllable is made up of a vowel sound, and it can be combined with one or more consonant sounds.

For example, the word "big" has 1 syllable. The word "happy" has 2 syllables ("hap", "py"). The word "different" has 3 syllables ("dif", "fe", "rent").

1 unit of sound means that you create the sound by exhaling once from your lung. The word "different" can be spoken with 3 breaths - "dif", "fe", "rent". Be careful about consonants. Many consonants such as "t" in "rent" are weak and almost silent, so they are not a syllable on their own.

Listen to the words, below, and note the number of syllables.

One-Syllable Words

• Big

• Sad

• Shocked

• Strong

Two-Syllable Words

• Angry

• Clean

• Busy

• Careful

• Cloudy

• Hungry

• Little

• Mindful

• Never

• Pleasant

• Polite

• Scrawny

• Silly

• Thoughtful

• Timely

• Ugly

• Worried

Three-Syllable Words

• Attention

• Bicycle

• Determined

• Expensive

• Important

• Interesting

Four-Syllable Words

• American

• Canadian