1. When a word ends with ing, er, est, or ed, those endings usually form separate syllables.
Examples: ski-ing, dark-er, long-est, crook-ed
2. When two or more consonants appear in the middle of the word, the syllables are divided between them. This rule does not apply if the two consonants are ch, tch, ph, sh, or th. These consonant combinations aren’t separated for syllables.
Examples: syl-la-ble, rich-er, watch-ing, graph-ic, dish-es, bro-ther, trig-ger
3. When only one consonant appears between two vowels, divide the word before the consonant.
Examples: bi-king, hi-king, ta-king, sho-vel, vo-wel
4. When a two syllable word ends in a consonant plus le, the consonant and le form the last syllable. If the preceding syllable ends in a consonant, use the short sound of the vowel. If the preceding syllable ends with a vowel, use the long sound of the vowel.
Examples: wig-gle, pur-ple, peo-ple, ta-ble
5. When a two syllable word ends in a consonant plus re, the consonant and re form the last syllable. If the preceding syllable ends with a vowel, usually the long sound of that vowel is used. If the preceding syllable ends with a consonant, usually the short sound of that vowel is used.
Examples: a-cre, me-di-o-cre, mas-sa-cre
6. Never break apart the following vowel combinations:
ai, ay, ea, ee, oa, ow, oo, oi, oy, ou, ie, and ei.
Examples: wait-ing, may-or, teach-er, keep-ing, coach-ing, cow-boy, cook-ing, poi-son, joy-ful, doubt-ful, friend, nei-ther
7. Syllables that end in a consonant usually have a short vowel sound.
Examples: rab-bit, bal-lot, with-in
8. Syllables that end in a vowel usually have a long vowel sound.
Examples: ti-ger, li-on, ma-king
9. When a vowel is followed by an r, the r usually affects the vowel sound and appears in the same syllable. (Elementary school teachers call this the “Bossy R”.)
Examples: par-ty, per-son, whirl, morn-ing, turk-ey
10. When a syllable has a consonant/vowel/consonant/”e”, usually the long vowel sound is used.
Examples: hope, di-ver, bi-ker, lo-cate, mo-ment
11. Divide compound words between the two smaller words. If either or both of the two smaller words have more than one syllable, follow the general rules above.
Examples: side-walk, house-wife, grand-mo-ther, af-ter-noon
