Rules about Syllables

Rules about Syllables:

You can’t write with them.	You can’t write right without them
1. All words have at least one syllable.	Oh, well that’s not entirely true. But it’s not worth the effort to explain that all words are not spoken. Did you just nod your head?
2. All syllables have at least one vowel	Well, that’s almost true. But where’s the vowel in “Sh-h-h!”? or “Psst!”?
3. For every syllable there is one vowel sound. crab = 1, crabby=2, crabbiest =3	Well, not exactly. Linguists don’t all agree as to whether the long I sound (which is a diphthong) is actually one sound or two. But who cares?
4. When a word is going to go over the prescribed margin, you shouldn’t squeeze it in. You should either hyphenate it between syllables or carry it on to the next line. The last syllable must have at least three letters. Never hyphenate words like lady, quickly, Mary, merry or marry.	When a word is going to go over the prescribed margin, you shouldn’t squeeze it in. You should either hyphenate it between syllables or carry it on to the next line. When you write a paper and the word at the end of the line needs to be divided, place the hyphen care-fully between syllables.
5. Never hyphenate a one syllable word Please, thanks, high, buy, strengths	Sh-h-h-h. I won’t tell if you won’t tell. What word has 8 consonants and only one vowel?
6. Never hyphenate between digraphs and blends: Well, almost never. See Rule 9. washers, feathers.	Some spell checkers don’t quite understand this concept. Incorrect: was-hers Incorrect: feat-hers
7. Divide compound words between the words. bookcase, baseball, cardboard	See how goofy it looks and sounds when divide a word incorrectly. bookcase, baseball, cardboard
8. Beware of pseudo compound words such as notice, Sheraton, herring. Wrong: not-ice, She-rat-on, her-ring	Divide them to make sense: Right: no-tice, Sher-aton, herr-ing Computers often miss these.
9. When two or more consonants come between two vowels, divide the word between the first two consonants: blister, pastor, doctor, pencil,	Well, how about? father? father? No. Father See Rule 6.
10. When a single consonant comes between two vowels put the hyphen after the consonant if the first vowel is short. living, saving, toxic, toxin, panic, peril, river
11. When a single consonant comes between two vowels put the hyphen before the consonant if the first vowel is long. mason, tiger, Niger, cedar
12. When two vowels are next to each other but not a vowel digraph, put the hyphen between them: riot, diet, quiet, rodeo
13. When a vowel is sounded by itself, separate it. about, above, apron, evaluate, unite

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