In teaching reading, there are two main schools of thought: phonics and whole language.

Phonics
involves explicitly teaching a student how to pronounce words by analyzing its individual components,
whereas whole language relies heavily on reading comprehension and context to memorize the
sounds of words. Whole language works well for some students who can pick up on these patterns
intuitively; for less fortunate students, such as those suffering from dyslexia, a phonics approach
works best. On this website, I will advocate a combination of both phonics instruction and whole
language, as each has its drawbacks when used exclusively, but combined, these two theories will
complement each other.

There are two basic kinds of phonics instruction: synthetic phonics, a method which involves looking
at every part of the phonetic without necessarily taking into account the blends or meaning (e.g., s-t-r-
e-e-t); and analytic phonics, which involves looking at the phonic blends (e.g., str-ee-t). This website
will be using the analytic phonics approach.

These phonics rules provide information on how to teach a student to pronounce English words.
However, in order to be able to read, the student will also have to be taught the meaning of these
words. This can be accomplished by having the student frequently read texts suitable to his or her
current understanding of pronunciation.

Exceptions to the Rules

In teaching a beginning reader how to read, it is useful to teach explicit, systematic phonics rules.
However, it is important to note that almost all of these rules have exceptions. For example, one
often-taught rule states that when two vowels go together, the first one does the talking (it says its
name) and the second one does the walking (it is silent.) Common instances of this rule
are rain, seed, and boat. However, the exceptions, such as maul, boil, steak, and height, account for
55% of the cases.1 Therefore, it is important to remember that these rules are generalizations only.

The English alphabet is a set of 26 letters, each of which roughly represents a phoneme. The word
"alphabet" comes from alpha and beta, the first two letters of the Greek alphabet.

The 26 letters of the alphabet are: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X,

Y, and Z. Each comes in both an upper and lower case. The letters of the alphabet in lower case are
a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, and z.

Of these 26 letters, there are two kinds: consonants and vowels. The consonants of the alphabet
are: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z. The vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. Note that
the letter y is classified as a consonant, but sometimes acts like a vowel.

Each letter is like an animal. Each has a name, but also makes a certain sound. For example, a cat
says "meow." These sounds are called phonemes.
Consonant Sounds

Consonants are the letters which stop or limit the flow of air from the throat in speech. These are the
sounds, or phonemes, of single consonants:

 /b/ sound as in bonfire, black, bathtub, and balcony

 /d/ sound as in dry, draw, design, and duet
 /f/ sound as in fossil, fail, frame, and fingerprint
 /g/ sound as in greeting, grill, goose, and grapefruit
 /h/ sound as in hail, hieroglyphics, hostage, and hit
 /j/ sound as in magician, syringe, jeep, and message
 /k/ sound as in key, knock, kangaroo, and kayak
 /l/ sound as in lizard, learn, lamp, and library
 /m/ sound as in mug, money, maze, and mechanical
 /n/ sound as in night, newspaper, nightmare, and noodle
 /p/ sound as in panda, pie, pen, and potato
 /r/ sound as in rose, restaurant, run, and reporter
 /s/ sound as in safe, sunset, sand, and seat
 /t/ sound as in tile, thermometer, tongue, and toy
 /v/ sound as in violin, volcano, vaccination, and vote
 /w/ sound as in waterfall, wagon, windmill, and watch
 /y/ sound as in yoke, yawn, yacht, and yoga
 /z/ sound as in zebra, zoo, and zipper

Sometimes the vowel u takes upon itself the consonant sound of w, as in quick or suave. This is
usually the case when q is followed by u, as in quiet and quaint.

Vowel Sounds

A vowel is a sound made by the relatively free movement of air through the mouth, usually forming the
main sound of a syllable. The vowels are a, e, i, o, and u.

Each vowel has two sounds: a long sound and a short sound. The long sound is the same as its
name. Every vowel also makes a third sound: the schwa. This is the sound of a vowel that is
unstressed in an unstressed syllable. There are also some more advanced vowel sounds besides the
long, short, and schwa. For instance, the a in father is different than the a in cat.

When a single vowel letter is in the middle of a word (or syllable), it usually says its short sound
(e.g., got, bed.) But there are many exceptions to this rule, such as irregular vowels. When a single
vowel letter is in the end of a word (or syllable), it usually says its long sound (or its name), as
in go and be. When two vowels go hand in hand in the same word (or syllable), the first vowel is
usually long, and the second vowel is usually silent. e.g., bake makes the ay sound (long a) and the e
is silent; goalmakes the oh sound (long o) and the a is silent. But there are many exceptions to this
rule, such as irregular vowels.
The following is a list of vowel sounds, shown along with their diacritical marks:

 Long a (ā) sound as in ape, snail, ache, explain, and reindeer

 Long e (ē) sound as in eat, agony, needle, pianist, and electricity
 Long i (ī) sound as in eye, cry, tightrope, tile, and violin
 Long o (ō) sound as in oh, domino, ghost, pillow, and stethoscope
 Long u (ū) sound as in you, salute, toothbrush, goose, boot, and costume
 Short a (ă) sound as in at, taxi, anniversary, laboratory, and tackle
 Short e (ĕ) sound as in elm, elevator, jellyfish, pentagon, and dentist
 Short i (ĭ) sound as in it, gift, inflate, spinach, and cereal
 Short o (ŏ) sound as in hop, camouflage, garage, chop, father, paw, and binoculars
 Short u (ŭ) sound as in up, cut and subtract
 Schwa (ə) sound as in about, item, gallop, and circus

The letter y sometimes substitutes for i and is a vowel when it does so. Likewise, the
vowel w sometimes substitutes for u and is considered a vowel when it does so.
However, y sometimes appears as the only vowel in a syllable, such as in gym and why,
whereas w never appears as a vowel all by itself. When w acts as a vowel, it always follows a (as
in paw), e (as in new), or o (as in grow).

Consonants are letters that are not vowels. Specifically, consonants are speech sounds (phonemes)
made by partially or completely blocking the vocal air stream, and letters (graphemes) that
represents such sounds.

When y is not acting as a vowel, it is a consonant. Most consonants have only one sound, but a few
have multiple sounds. For instance, c can make both the /k/ and the /s/ sound.

A comprehensive list of consonant sounds follows:

 b makes the /b/ sound as in bat; also, when b follows m in the same syllable, it is silent as
in lamb.
 c makes the /k/ sound as in cat and the /s/ sound as in cease—see Spelling With C and G.
 d makes the /d/ sound as in dog.
 f makes the /f/ sound as in fat.
 g makes the /g/ sound as in get, and the /j/ sound as in gem—see Spelling With C and G.
 h makes the /h/ sound as in hat; also, sometimes h is silent, as in honesty.
 j makes the /j/ sound as in jam.
 k makes the /k/ sound as in kite.
 l makes the /l/ sound as in lap, and the /lə/ sound as in glad and cycle.
 m makes the /m/ sound as in mad.
 n makes the /n/ sound as in nap.
 p makes the /p/ sound as in park.
 r makes the /r/ sound as in race. When r follows a vowel, it makes a special sound: see R-
Controlled Vowels.
 s makes the /s/ sound as in sit, and the /z/ sound as in has.
 t makes the /t/ sound as in tap; also, sometimes t is silent, as in whistle.
 v makes the /v/ sound as in van.
  w makes the /w/ sound as in wet. w placed before a single vowel will usually modify its sound,
as in wash.
 x makes the /ks/ sound as in box, the /gs/ sound as in exact, and the /z/ sound as
in xylophone.
 y makes the /y/ sound as in yet. y can also act as a vowel.
 z makes the /z/ sound as in zip.

Note that the consonant q is almost always followed by the vowel u. The u in this case takes on the
/w/ sound, so qu together make the /kw/ sound. In some French-derived words, -que makes the /k/
sound as in torque and plaque.

When a vowel is followed by a consonant, the vowel is short. The diacritical mark for a short vowel
is called a breve (˘), which is in the shape of a downturned arc.

A vowel is usually short when there is only one vowel in a word or syllable, as in cat, bed, and hot.
However, there are exceptions to this rule, such as with irregular vowels.

There is both a long and short sound to “oo”. The short sound appears as in the words book, booth,
and took.

The following is a list of short vowel sounds, shown along with their diacritical marks:

 Short a (ă) sound as in at, taxi, anniversary, laboratory, and tackle

 Short e (ĕ) sound as in elm, elevator, jellyfish, pentagon, and dentist
 Short i (ĭ) sound as in it, gift, inflate, spinach, and cereal
 Short o (ŏ) sound as in hop, camouflage, garage, chop, father, paw, and binoculars
 Short u (ŭ) sound as in up, cut and subtract

For a complete list of long, short, and other sounds, see letter sounds.

A long vowel sound is the same as its name. The diacritical mark for a long vowel is called a
macron (¯), which is in the shape of a line above the vowel.

When a single vowel letter is in the end of a word (or syllable), it usually says its long sound (or its
name), as in go and be. When two vowels go hand in hand in the same word (or syllable), the first
vowel is usually long, and the second vowel is usually silent. e.g., bake makes the /ay/ sound (long a)
and the e is silent; goal makes the /oh/ sound (long o) and the a is silent. However, there are many
exceptions to this rule, such as with irregular vowels.

When there are two adjacent vowels in a word, the first one is long and the second one is silent. The
first vowel is marked with a long line and second one is crossed out. Examples of this rule are
in coat, ride, and read.
There is both a long and short sound to “oo”. The long sound appears as in the
words boo, food, smooth, and moose.

The following is a list of long vowel sounds, shown along with their diacritical marks:

 Long a (ā) sound as in ape, snail, ache, explain, and reindeer

 Long e (ē) sound as in eat, agony, needle, pianist, and electricity
 Long i (ī) sound as in eye, cry, tightrope, tile, and violin
 Long o (ō) sound as in oh, domino, ghost, pillow, and stethoscope
 Long u (ū) sound as in you, salute, toothbrush, goose, boot, and costume

For a complete list of long, short, and other sounds, see letter sounds.

A vowel combination is a combination of two or three vowels, or of a vowel and at least one
consonant, that is associated with one or more specific single sounds. For example, ea has the
sounds /long e/ and /long a/; ay has the sound /long a/, and igh has the sound /long i/. These vowel
combinations are sometimes called digraphs,diphthongs, trigraphs, and triphthongs.

Vowel combinations occur in three different forms in written English:

1. Vowels often appear in clusters within a single syllable. This is the most common form.
2. Vowels often appear in combination with a particular consonant or consonants which,
together, represent a sound unit that is different from what you would expect if you didn't
know the specific combination. For example, the o in old has the /long o/ sound, but if you
didn't already know that already, you would think that the o incold was short.
3. Another common combination in English is one or two vowels followed by gh. The gh is
usually silent. It is usually easier to decode the whole unit (igh, eigh) than to process the
vowel and the gh separately.

A Vowel Combinations

ai/ay

Together, ai or ay make a /long a/ sound.

Example words: aim, rain, braid, paint, ray, say, stay, tail, twain, praise, stain, and main
Other a vowel combinations

 ay as in day, say, play, spray, and tray

 au as in fault, gaunt, fraud, launch, pause, and sauce
 aw as in saw, paw, claw, dawn, and crawl
 augh as in caught, taught, daughter, naughty, haughty, and slaughter
 wa /wô/ as in want, wash, swamp, squash, squat
 wa /wă/ as in wax, wag, swam, and quack
 all as in ball, tall, hall, and small
 ald as in bald, scald, and alder
 alk as in talk, walk, chalk, and stalk
 alm as in alms, calm, palm, and psalm
 alt as in halt, malt, and salt

E Vowel Combinations

ee and ea

Together, ee or ea make a /long e/ sound. Sometimes, ea together makes a /short e/ sound or a /long
a/ sound instead.
Example words (ee): peek, see, queen, sleep, cheese, street, meet, and team
Example words (ea /long e/): eat, sea, each, leaf, peach, mean, team, ease, and please
Example words (ea /short e/): dead, head, spread, health, and meant
Example words (ea /long a/): break, great, steak, and yea

Other e vowel combinations

 eu/ew as in sleuth, deuce, few, new, and shrewd

 ei/ey/eigh /long a/ as in veil, beige, they, whey, eight, and weigh
 ei/ey/eigh /long e/ as in seize, key, money, valley
 ei/ey/eigh /long i/ as in heist, eye, geyser, height

I Vowel Combinations

 ie /long e/ as in brief, field, grieve, and piece

 ie/ye /long i/ as in die, tie, dye, and rye
 igh as in high, thigh, night, flight, and wright
 ign as in sign, align, assign, and benign
 ind as in bind, kind, mind, grind, and behind

O Vowel Combinations

 oo as in boo, food, smooth, and moose

 oo as in book, look, good, and stood
 oa /long o/ as in oat, loam, groan, loathe, and loaves
 oe /long o/ as in doe, and hoe
 oi/oy /y/ as in oil, coin, voice, boy, and ploy
 old/olk/olt /long o/ as in gold, scold, folk, yolk, bolt, and volt
 oll/ost /long o/ as in roll, knoll, scroll, ghost, most, and post
 oll/ost /short o/ as in doll, loll, cost, lost, and frost
 ou/ow as in out, round, bounce, how, down, and browse
  ou/ow /long o/ as in soul, poultry, own, glow, snow, and owe
 ou as in you, soup, group, and rouge

U Vowel Combinations

 ue /long u/ as in cue, due, hue, rue, sue, blue, clue, flue, glue, and true
 ui /long u/ as in suit, fruit, cruise, juice, and sluice

A digraph is a single sound, or phoneme, which is represented by two letters. A trigraph is a

phoneme which consists of three letters. However, many people will simply use the term 'digraph'
generally to describe both combinations. In digraphs, consonants join together to form a kind of
consonant team, which makes a special sound. For instance, p and h combine to form ph, which
makes the /f/ sound as in phonemic.

When two or more consonants appear together and you hear each sound that each consonant would
normally make, the consonant team is called a consonant blend. For instance, the word blend has
two consonant blends: bl, for which you hear the sounds for both b and l, and nd, for which you hear
the sounds for both n and d.

Digraphs

 ch, which makes the /ch/ sound as in watch, chick, chimpanzee, and champion
 ck, which makes the /k/ sound as in chick
 ff, which makes the /f/ sound as in cliff
 gh, which makes the /g/ sound as in ghost and ghastly
 gn, which makes the /n/ sound as in gnome and gnarled
 kn, which makes the /n/ sound as in knife and knight
 ll, which makes the /l/ sound as in wall
 mb, which makes the /m/ sound as in lamb and thumb
 ng, which makes the /ng/ sound as in fang, boomerang, and fingerprint
 nk, which makes the /nk/ sound as in ink, sink and rink
 ph, which makes the /f/ sound as in digraph, phone, and phonics
 qu, which makes the /kw/ sound as in quick
 sh, which makes the /sh/ sound as in shore, shipwreck, shark, and shield
 ss, which makes the /s/ sound as in floss
 th, which makes the /th/ sound as in athlete, toothbrush, bathtub, thin, and thunderstorm
 th, which makes the /th/ sound as in this, there, and that
 wh, which makes the /hw/ sound as in where and which
 wr, which makes the /wr/ sound as in write
 zz, which makes the /z/ sound as in fuzz and buzz
Trigraphs

 chr, which makes the /chr/ sound as in chrome and chromosome

 dge, which makes the /g/ sound as in dodge and partridge
 tch, which makes the /tch/ sound as in catch, match

When two or more letters appear together and you hear each sound that each consonant would
normally make, the combination is called a blend. For instance, the wordblend has two consonant
blends: bl, for which you hear the sounds for both b and l, and nd, for which you hear the sounds for
both n and d.

Two-Letter Blends

 bl, which blends the /b/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /bl/ sound as
in blend and blight
 br, which blends the /b/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /br/ sound as
in break and brown
 cl, which blends the /c/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /cl/ sound as
in cluster and class
 cr, which blends the /c/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /cr/ sound as
in crash and cross
 dr, which blends the /d/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /dr/ sound as
in drive and drab
 fl, which blends the /f/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /fl/ sound as in flu and flake
 fr, which blends the /f/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /fr/ sound as
in freedom and frost
 gl, which blends the /g/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /gl/ sound as in glad and glory
 gr, which blends the /g/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /gr/ sound as
in green and gravy
 nd, which blends the /n/ and the /d/ sounds together to make the /nd/ sound as
in blend and send
 pl, which blends the /p/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /pl/ sound as in play and plow
 pr, which blends the /p/ and the /r/ sounds together to make the /pr/ sound as
in prime and prowl
 sl, which blends the /s/ and the /l/ sounds together to make the /sl/ sound as
in slogan and sloppy
 sm, which blends the /s/ and the /m/ sounds together to make the /sm/ sound as
in small and smart
 sn, which blends the /s/ and the /n/ sounds together to make the /sn/ sound as
in snail and snore
 sp, which blends the /s/ and the /p/ sounds together to make the /sp/ sound as
in special and spackel
 st, which blends the /s/ and the /t/ sounds together to make the /st/ sound as in stop and start
Three-Letter Blends

 shr, which blends the /sh/ digraph and the /r/ sound together to make the /shr/ sound as
in shroud
 spl, which blends the /sp/ blend and the /l/ sound together to make the /spl/ sound as
in splash and splendid
 spr, which blends the /sp/ blend and the /r/ sound together to make the /spr/ sound as
in spring and spray
 squ, which blends the /s/ sound and the /sq/ digraph together to make the /squ/ sound as
in squid and squelch
 str, which blends the /st/ blend and the /r/ sound together to make the /str/ sound as
in struggle and strap
 thr, which blends the /th/ digraph and the /r/ sound together to make the /thr/ sound as
in throw

A diphthong is a complex sound made by gliding from one vowel sound to another within the same
syllable, as in boy and out. Technically, a diphthong is such a sound that consists of two vowels, and
a triphthong is such a sound that consists of three vowels. However, many people will refer to both
combinations generally using the term 'diphthong.'

Besides long vowel sounds, short vowel sounds, and the schwa sound, there are some other special
sounds in English that are represented by vowels. They are as follows:

 /aw/ sound as in awful and awe

 /oi/ sound as in boil, poison, toilet, and annoy
 /ou/ sound as in lighthouse, cow, flower, and fountain
 /oo/ (ʊ) sound as in took, pulley, platypus, pull, and football

Note that "oo" makes two different sounds in different words, having the ʊ sound as in hook, or the ū
sound as in boot.
When a vowel is followed by an r, it makes a special sound. These are called r-controlled vowels, or r-
colored vowels. These phonemes are as follows:

 /ar/ sound as in car, guitar, Arthur

 /âr/ sound as in care, bear, mare, scare, aquarium
 /îr/ sound as in pier
 /ir/ sound as in turnip, spider, certificate, and beaver
 /or/ sound as in manor, observatory, author, brought, and orchard
 /er/ sound as in butter, cutter, and mother

Usually, /ar/ always sounds like the ar in car, and /or/ always sounds like the or in for. The ir, er,
and ur, sound the same as in bird, her, and fur. These all make a /ər/ sound.

Sometimes, the basic rules of phonics do not apply. Each of these instances must be memorized.
Common examples include, but are not limited, to:

 IGH as in "high" or "sight"

 -NG as in "sing," "song," "sung"
 OST as in "most" (but not "lost" or "cost") uses the long sound instead of the normal short
sound.
 OW has two different sounds as in "low" and "cow." (or, "sow" and "sow.")
 ED has three different sounds as in "lifted," "played," and "walked"
 OI does not follow the two vowels rule, e.g., "moist" or "boil."
 Double O has two different sounds, as in "book" and "loose."
 OUS as in "nervous."
 AU as in "fault" or "haul."
 -SION, -TION, and -CION are all pronounced "shun."
 OUGH has at least seven different sounds, as in "bough," "cough," "hough," "tough,"
"thorough," "thought," and "through."

A word consists of a series of letters. Every word must have at least one vowel in it. Each syllable is
made by blending the sounds of each component, that is, reading the word by adding one sound at a
time, as in -e, -ed, bed. The following are some rules for spelling and pronouncing words.

1. c followed by e, i or y usually has the soft sound of s. Examples: cyst, central, and city.
2. "G" followed by "e, i or y" usually has the soft sound of "j". Example: "gem", "gym", and "gist".
3. When two consonants a joined together and form one new sound, they are a consonant
digraph. They count as one sound and one letter and are never separated. Examples:
"ch,sh,th,ph and wh".
 4. When a syllable ends in a consonant and has only one vowel, that vowel is short. Examples:
"fat, bed, fish, spot, luck".
5. When a syllable ends in a silent "e", the silent "e" is a signal that the vowel in front of it is long.
Examples: "make, gene, kite, rope, and use".
6. When a syllable has two vowels together, the first vowel is usually long and the second is
silent. Examples: "pain, eat, boat, res/cue, say, grow". Diphthongs don't follow this rule.
7. When a syllable ends in any vowel and is the only vowel, that vowel is usually long.
Examples: "pa/per, me, I, o/pen, u/nit, and my".
8. When a vowel is followed by an "r" in the same syllable, that vowel is "r-controlled". It is not
long nor short. "R-controlled "er,ir,and ur" often sound the same (like "er"). Examples: "term,
sir, fir, fur, far, for, su/gar, or/der".

Words may have prefixes or suffixes added to them, which will modify their meaning. For example,
the root word use and the suffix -able combine to create the wordusable.

Most English words used today were not originally English. These words were adapted from other
language, such as Latin and Greek. It can be helpful to know some of these roots of English
vocabulary. It may be possible to guess the meaning of an unknown word when one knows the
meaning of its root. Knowing prefixes and suffixes can also help.

An English word can consist of three parts: the root, a prefix, and a suffix. The root is the part of the
word that contains the basic meaning, or definition of the word. Theprefix is a word element placed in
front of the root, which changes the word's meaning or makes a new word. A suffix is a word element
placed after the root, which changes the word's meaning as well as its function.

When adding a suffix to a one-syllable word, if the root word ends in only one consonant and has only
one vowel before it, and if the suffix begins with a vowel, then the consonant ending the root word will
be doubled. For example, when adding -ing to can, we double the n to end up with canning. The rule
for multisyllable words is the same, but applies only when the last syllable of the root is accented, like
in beginner and concurring, but not in begins or forgetful.

For words ending in silent e, when the suffix begins with a vowel, that silent e is usually dropped
before adding the suffix. For example, in take and -ing, we drop the silente off of take, then add the
suffix, and end up with taking.

When adding a suffix to a word ending in y, if there is a vowel before the y, just add the suffix. For
example, obey + -ed becomes obeyed. If there is a consonant before the y, we will usually change
the y to an i before adding any suffix (except -ing and -ish.) For example, angry + ly becomes angrily,
and baby + -ign becomes babying.
Common Prefixes

Prefix Meaning Example

pre- before They will show a sneak preview of the movie.

un- not The cafeteria will be unavailable tomorrow morning.

dis- not Mark disagreed with John's philosophy.

re- again Are you going to renew your subscription?

mis- not He has mismanaged the company.

im- not With hard work and determination, nothing is impossible.

bi- two Henry recently received his first pair of bifocals.

Many ecologists are concerned about the deforestation of our world's rain
de- not
forests.

Common Suffixes

Suffixes Meaning Example

-er doer I work as a computer programmer.

-able able These glass bottles are recyclable.

-ous full of Driving on the freeway can be dangerous.

-ness state of being At night, the earth is covered in darkness.

-ful full of The witness gave an honest and truthful testimony.

-ly or -y like James whistled happily on his way home from school.

-ment state of Mary sighed with contentment.

A compound word is a word composed of two or more words that are spelled normally and retain
their usual meanings. It is easy to recognize the short, known words within compound words, and
each of those short words is accented, which makes them less confusing to a beginning reader. For
these reasons, compound words are often the first set of multisyllable words taught to a beginning
reader.
Examples of Compound Words

 backpack (back + pack)

 newspaper (news + paper)
 knapsack (knap + sack)
 lipstick (lip + stick)
 mouthwash (mouth + wash)
 sunlight (sun + light)
 raindrop (rain + drop)
 sandpaper (sand + paper)
 groundhog (ground + hog)
 afternoon (after + noon)
 motorcar (motor + car)
 eyebrow (eye + brow)
 butterfly (butter + fly) — This is one example in which the original words do not convey their
usual meanings well.

A syllable is a basic unit of written and spoken language. It is a unit consisting of uninterrupted sound
that can be used to make up words. For example, the word hotelhas two syllables: ho and tel. These
will be marked here as in ho/tel.

Counting Syllables

To find the number of syllables in a word, use the following steps:

1. Count the vowels in the word.

2. Subtract any silent vowels, (like the silent e at the end of a word, or the second vowel when
two vowels are together in a syllabl.e)
3. Subtract one vowel from every diphthong (diphthongs only count as one vowel sound.)
4. The number of vowels sounds left is the same as the number of syllables.

The number of syllables that you hear when you pronounce a word is the same as the number of
vowels sounds heard. For example:

 The word came has 2 vowels, but the e is silent, leaving one vowel sound andone syllable.
 The word outside has 4 vowels, but the e is silent and the ou is a diphthong which counts as
only one sound, so this word has only two vowel sounds and therefore, two syllables.

Six Kinds of Syllables

There are six different kinds of syllables in English:

1. Closed Syllables: A closed syllable has one and only one vowel, and it ends in a consonant.
Examples include in, ask, truck, sock, stretch, twelfth, and on.
2. Open Syllables: An open syllable has one and only one vowel, and that vowel occurs at the
end of the syllable. Examples include no, she, I, a, and spry.
 3. Silent-E Syllables: A silent-e syllable ends in an e, has one and only one consonant before
that e, and has one and only one vowel before that consonant. Examples
include ate, ice, tune, slope, strobe, and these.
4. Vowel Combination Syllables: A vowel combination syllable has a cluster of two or three
vowels or a vowel-consonant unit with a sound or sounds particular to that unit. Examples
include rain, day, see, veil, pie, piece, noise, toy, cue, and true.
5. Vowel-R Syllables: A vowel-r syllable is one which includes one and only one vowel followed
by an r, or one vowel followed by an r which is followed by a silent e, or a vowel
combination followed by an r. Examples include car, or, care, ire, air, and deer.
6. Consonant-L-E Syllables: In these syllables, a consonant is followed by le. The vowel sound
in these syllables is the schwa sound that occurs before the l. Examples include -ble, -cle, -
dle, -fle, and -gle.

Dividing Words Into Syllables

There are four ways to split up a word into its syllables:

1. Divide between two middle consonants.

Split up words that have two middle consonants. For example:

hap/pen, bas/ket, let/ter, sup/per, din/ner, and Den/nis. The only exceptions are the consonant
digraphs. Never split up consonant digraphs as they really represent only one sound. The exceptions
are "th", "sh", "ph", "th", "ch", and "wh".

2. Usually divide before a single middle consonant.

When there is only one syllable, you usually divide in front of it, as in:

"o/pen", "i/tem", "e/vil", and "re/port". The only exceptions are those times when the first syllable has
an obvious short sound, as in "cab/in".

3. Divide before the consonant before an "-le" syllable.

When you have a word that has the old-style spelling in which the "-le" sounds like "-el", divide before
the consonant before the "-le". For example: "a/ble", "fum/ble", "rub/ble" "mum/ble" and "thi/stle". The
only exception to this are "ckle" words like "tick/le".

4. Divide off any compound words, prefixes, suffixes and roots which have vowel sounds.

Split off the parts of compound words like "sports/car" and "house/boat". Divide off prefixes such at
"un/happy", "pre/paid", or "re/write". Also divide off suffixes as in the words "farm/er", "teach/er",
"hope/less" and "care/ful". In the word "stop/ping", the suffix is actually "-ping" because this word
follows the rule that when you add "-ing" to a word with one syllable, you double the last consonant
and add the "-ing".
When a word has more than one syllable, one of the syllables is always a little louder than the others.
The syllable with the louder stress is the accented syllable. The unstressed syllable usually takes
the schwa sound.

It may seem that the placement of accents in words is often random or accidental, but these are some
rules that usually work.

1. Accents are often on the first syllable. Examples: ba'/sic, pro'/gram.

2. In words that have suffixes or prefixes, the accent is usually on the main root word. Examples:
box'/es, un/tie'.
3. If de-, re-, ex-, in-, po-, pro-, or a- is the first syllable in a word, it is usually not accented.
Examples: de/lay', ex/plore'.
4. Two vowel letters together in the last syllable of a word often indicates an accented last
syllable. Examples: com/plain', con/ceal'.
5. When there are two like consonant letters within a word, the syllable before the double
consonants is usually accented. Examples: be/gin'/ner, let'/ter.
6. The accent is usually on the syllable before the suffixes -ion, ity, -ic, -ical, -ian, -ial, or -ious,
and on the second syllable before the suffix -ate. Examples: af/fec/ta'/tion, dif/fer/en'/ti/ate.
7. In words of three or more syllables, one of the first two syllables is usually accented.
Examples: ac'/ci/dent, de/ter'/mine.

Many words do not follow these rules, and are called sight words. Because they do not follow the
normal rules, these must be memorized. Examples include the, are, andyou. They are also
sometimes called 'irregular words' or 'outlaw words'.

Here are some more examples:

 the, to, do, and who — These should have long vowel sounds because they are open
syllables, like me and go.
 what, was, and whom — These should have short vowel sounds because they are closed
syllables, like sat and cot.
 again, against, says and said — These should have long a sounds because of the ai vowel
combination, like say and pain.
 been — This should have a long e sound, like seen.

In many words, the o says /short u/ instead of /short o/ or /long o/, as

in of, from, son, month, front, some, love, other, money, and among.
The letter c makes two sounds—the /k/ sound and the /s/ sound. The sound of c is controlled by the
letter following it. When c is followed by a consonant (except h), it makes the /k/ sound. When
followed by the vowels a, o, or u, it also makes the /k/ sound. However, when followed by the
vowels e, i, or y, it makes the /s/ sound. When cmakes the /k/ sound, that is called its hard sound,
and when it makes the /s/ sound, that is called its soft sound.

The letter g is similar, sometimes making its hard sound /g/, and other times making its soft sound /j/.
However, it doesn't follow the rule as often as c. Some notable exceptions include give, get, gear, girl,
and gill.

Spelling With C

When c is followed by e, i or y, it says /s/ as in cent. Otherwise, it says /k/ as in cat.

 Examples of the /s/ sound: centre, ceiling, circle, and cycle.

 Examples of the /k/ sound: cottage, cave, cream, curious, and clever.

Spelling With G

When g is followed by i, e or y, it says /j/ as in gym. Otherwise, it says /g/ as in gold.

 Examples of the /j/ sound: gentle, giant, and gymnastic.

 Examples of the /g/ sound: gallon, gold, guide, glass, and grow.
 Exceptions: get, got, begin, girl, give, gear, geese, gift, girth, geyser, and giddy.

Sometimes, the letter y is a consonant, and other times it is a vowel. The rule for telling the two apart
is simple: The letter y is a consonant when it is the first letter of a syllable that has more than
one letter. If y is anywhere else in the syllable, it is a vowel.

Examples of Y as a Consonant

 yes
 yam
 yell
 yellow
 yogurt
Examples of Y as a Vowel

 gym
 my
 cycle
 baby
 hairy
 sky

Because there are more letter sounds than there are letters in the alphabet, dictinaries
use diacritical marks to indicate which phoneme to give to a grapheme; that is, which sound to give
to a letter unit. Although we do not typically use diacritical marks for consonant sounds, we do teach
them for vowel sounds.

The most common diacritical marks are the long vowel mark ( ¯ ), called the macron; the short vowel
mark ( ˘ ), called the breve, and the schwa mark ( ə ).

Long Vowel Mark

The long vowel mark placed over a vowel indicates that it will be pronounced just as it sounds when
we recite the alphabet:

 ā as in ate
 ē as in evil
 ī as in ice
 ō as in open
 ū as in use or in flute
 ȳ as in cry

Short Vowel Mark

The short vowel mark placed over a vowel is as follows:

 ă as in apple
 ĕ as in elementary
 ĭ as in idiom
 ŏ as in on
 ŭ as in under
 (Note that no mark is given for short y; the short i sound is used instead.)
Schwa Mark

The schwa mark represents the indistinct vowel sound that is the unaccented or unstressed syllable of
a multisyllabic word:

 ə as in ago
 ə as in happen
 ə as in legible
 ə as in common
 ə as in suggest