Syllables

A syllable is a word, or part of a word, which contains a single vowel sound. It is a single
unit of speech.

Each word contains one syllable, or more.

1 Syllable
Here are examples of words with a single syllable:

pen cup
man hat
pig

In English, a vowel sound can be made of more the one vowel letter.
So the following words have a single syllable as well:

feet have
moon break
cake bought

All of these words contain only one vowel sound, and therefore a single syllable.

2 Syllables
A word can have more than one syllable. The following words are examples of words
with two syllables. Here are examples of words with 2 syllables. The different syllables
are shown on the right, and they are separated with a space.

garden: gar den object: ob ject

hotel: ho tel focus: fo cus
consist: con sist

3 Syllables
Examples of words with three syllables:

September: sep tem ber Saturday: sa tur day

department: de part ment hamburger: hum bur ger
telephone: te le phone vitamin: vi ta min
camera: ca mer a

4 Syllables
Examples of words with four syllables:

kindergarten: kin der gar ten American: A mer i can

information: in for ma tion discovery: di sco ver y
January: ja nu ar y
 Word Stress
When a word has more than one syllable, not all syllables are pronounced with the same
degree of force. The syllable which is pronounced with greater force is called
the stressed syllable. You can also call it the accented syllable. "Accent" in this case
means "emphasis".

When speaking, it is important to put the stress on the correct syllable.

Otherwise, it would sound unnatural, and might even be difficult to understand!

Watch the following video for a full explanation and demonstration of word stress:
Here are some examples of the word stress of some common words (the stress part
is bold):

water: wa ter potato: po ta to

people: peo ple before: be fore
television: tel e vi sion begin: be gin
together: to geth er

Long E Sound
iː (meet, see)

Say these words out loud (long E sound is bold):

1) see 7) key 13) sneeze

2) meet 8) free 14) freeze
3) meat 9) leave 15) bleed
4) heat 10) breathe 16) need
5) read 11) feet 17) feel
6) eat 12) please

Now say these sentences out loud (long E sound is bold):

1) I want to see my feet. 7) We need some heat.

2) I need to sneeze. 8) He eats all the meat.
3) Read my book, please. 9) We need to be free.
4) Give me the key, please. 10) Please don't leave.
5) They feel good when they meet. 11) When I freeze I start to sneeze.
 Short I Sound
I (sit, hit)

Say these words out loud (short I sound is bold):

1) in 7) spin 13) with

2) is 8) ill 14) sister
3) if 9) trip 15) give
4) sit 10) busy 16) listen
5) hit 11) minute 17) miss
6) click 12) will

Now say these sentences out loud (short I sound is bold):

1) Come here and sit. 7) I am really busy at this minute.

2) Kate is my sister. 8) They will sit with you.
3) If you stay I will stay too. 9) She will give us the bill.
4) Try to hit that ball with your bat. 10) Stay here and listen to me.
5) We will have a very nice trip. 11) They miss the winter.

UH Sound
ʊ (put, foot)
Say these words out loud (UH sound is bold):

1) put 7) cook 13) would

2) full 8) foot 14) cookie
3) pull 9) good 15) wool
4) sugar 10) look 16) bull
5) bush 11) could 17) cookbook
6) book 12) should 18) push

Now say these sentences out loud (UH sound is bold):

1) Put the book on your foot. 7) He would eat a cookie if he could.

2) I want to read the full book. 8) You should look at this cookbook.
3) He will pull the bull. 9) They said they would buy some wool.
4) To cook with sugar is not healthy. 10) The bull pushed the bush.
5) He could push his car.
 OO Sound
uː (moon, blue)
Say these words out loud (OO sound is bold):

1) spoon 7) tool 13) noon

2) moon 8) igloo 14) soon
3) food 9) who 15) clue
4) too 10) mood 16) flu
5) blue 11) suit 17) rude
6) shoe 12) balloon 18) fool

Now say these sentences out loud (OO sound is bold):

1) I will eat some fruit. igloo.

2) The fool bought a new suit.
3) They eat food with a spoon.
4) There is no moon at noon.
5) My right shoe is blue, and my left
shoe is blue, too.
7) We need more tools to finish the
8) Who is coming soon?
9) He is in a bad mood because of the
flu, so I will bring him a balloon.
10) She is so rude only because she has
no clue what to do.

Short E Sound
e (pen, bed)
Say these words out loud (short E sound is bold):

1) bet 7) get 13) ten

2) rest 8) check 14) again
3) bed 9) let 15) ready
4) pen 10) sweat 16) neck
5) said 11) wet 17) head
6) spend 12) yet 18) when

Now say these sentences out loud (short E sound is bold):

1) I bet you haven't slept yet. 8) He said: "Could you check if you have
2) Get some rest. a pen?"
3) When will you be ready? 9) Can you help? Sure, no sweat (=no
4) He spends ten dollars a day. problem)!
5) My head is on my neck. 10) Let's pet the cat.
7) The floor is wet again.