Syllabication Types and Rules

This page will teach you about the types and rules of syllabication. 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! There are decodable passages by syllable type! *  Closed syllables p. 13 *  Open syllables p. 30 *  Vowel team syllables p. 48 *  R-controlled syllables p. 60 *  Silent e syllables p. 79 *  Consonant -le syllables p. 95
• 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:

• Syllable Counter 
• Syllabication Rules
• Grade 3 Fundations—Syllable Division packet

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 unfamiliar words, expands their sight-word vocabulary, and facilitates learning how to spell words (Torgesen, 2004; Moats, 2001; Curtis & Longo, 1999). Instruction in syllable skills helps remediate and increase achievement in word attack, word identification, and reading comprehension, while also growing fluency (Diliberto, Beattie, Flowers, & Algozzine, 2009).

Why does the dictionary have different syllable rules?

The dictionary divides words 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 it focuses on the word’s meaning. The dictionary places a macron over the i to indicate that 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.

Syllable assessment 

• Syllable Types Student Pages Test
• Six Syllable Types Test Teacher Pages

The 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. Nonsense words reveal if a child has memorized common words but has not mastered phonetic patterns. Progress monitoring can also be recorded on this test. Students’ results determine where you begin your phonics instruction.

6 Syllable Types

If a child is stuck on a word, follow these syllable types to decode it! 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 to improve their reading skills.

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 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:  CV (we), CCV (she).

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

4. The r-controlled syllable (Vr) is sometimes called the bossy r syllable. This syllable occurs when the vowel sound changes due to being followed by r.

Er, ir, ur all sound the same. For example, 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 vowel team and diphthong syllable (VV) is a combination of two vowels that stand together as one sound. We also refer to it as the double vowel syllable (DD).

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

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

Additional Information

• When dividing “liquid” into syllables, remember that qu has 2 phonemes—/k/ and /w/—that’s where we divide it in speech (lik-wid). It is 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. 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 and not in danced or played.
• Prefixes and suffixes make their own syllables. un/kind    kind/ness   thank/ful    stuff/ing   dis/like

 

Check out Sarah Snippets! She has a unique way of teaching syllable division. Students separate the words as follows, then determine the location of the center consonants!

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 to develop a strategy for reading and spelling.

Students know that blends shouldn’t be divided. Which side should the cr go on?

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. However, we don’t teach syllable division as a final objective; rather, it serves as a tool for decoding and encoding. If a child divides it as comp/lex, and can read and spell it, then the decoding/encoding goal has been met. 

Another way to divide syllables is clapping the number of syllables in a word, and making large scoops for each syllable. For example:  important

Then, write the syllables you hear!

 

 

Copyright 11/14/2012

Edited on 10/19/2025

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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