Basic Details
Word: Syllable
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: One beat of sound in a spoken word, usually built round a vowel sound. Ba-na-na has three syllables; cat has one.
Word origin: From Greek syllabe, meaning that which is held together, through Latin and Old French.
How to Spell Syllable
Syllables: syl - la - ble
Tricky part: The first vowel is a y, not an i, and the middle needs a double l. Many students also write the ending as -ible because the vowel there is so weak.
Watch out for: sylable, syllible, sillable
Memory tip: Say it slowly and clap: syl / la / ble. Three claps, and the word itself shows you what it means. The y sits where you expect an i, like in rhythm and lyric.
Usage Examples
Example 1: Our Hindi teacher made us tap the desk once for every syllable in a long word.
Example 2: Strawberry has three syllables, though many people swallow the middle one.
Example 3: In the poem, the stress falls on the second syllable of every line.
Fun Fact
English haiku are usually written in three lines of five, seven and five syllables. The Japanese original counts smaller sound units, so the two do not match exactly.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Fill in the missing letters to complete the word:
s_ll_ble
a) y, i
b) i, a
c) y, a
d) i, e
Show answer
c) y, a. Greek words like this one often keep a y for the i sound, and the weak middle vowel is an a, as in syllabus.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. vowell 2. syllable 3. consonent 4. rythm
a) a regular pattern of beats or sounds
b) one beat of sound in a spoken word
c) a speech sound made by partly blocking the breath, such as b or t
d) a speech sound made with the mouth open, such as a or o
Show answer
b) one beat of sound in a spoken word. Rhythm hides an h after the r, vowel ends in a single l and consonant ends in -ant, which leaves syllable as the only sound spelling.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
The baby's very first word was a single lbyslela: ma.
a) syllabic
b) syllabus
c) suitable
d) syllable
Show answer
d) syllable. Count the l's: the jumble has three of them and no u or i, so only syllable can be built.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. How many syllables are there in the word elephant?
a) three
b) five
c) two
d) four
Show answer
a) three
2. A word with only one syllable is called a ____.
a) trisyllable
b) disyllable
c) polysyllable
d) monosyllable
Show answer
d) monosyllable
