A syllable is a unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word. For example, there are two syllables in the word ‘water’ and three in ‘inferno’. Sometimes syllables are referred to as the ‘beats’ of spoken language and teachers often teach children to identify syllables by clapping the ‘beats’ in words.
Types of Syllables
There are seven types of syllables in English. Those are given below.
- Closed syllable.
- Open syllable.
- Vowel-Consonant-e (VCe) / Magic e syllable.
- Vowel Team syllable.
- Diphthong syllable.
- Vowel-r (r-controlled) syllable.
- Consonant-le (C-le) syllable.
Let’s explore each of them with some example words.
1. Closed Syllable
A syllable with a short vowel, spelt with a single vowel letter ending in one or more consonants is called closed syllable.
Examples of Closed Syllable Words
| Cat | Rabbit | Dapple | Hostel |
| Enlist | Contest | Beverage | Falcon |
| Problem | Cobweb | Himself | Lobby |
| Dentist | Trumpet | Sudden | Goblet |
| Habit | Cabin | Visit | Admit |
| Boston | Magnet | Napkin | Kidnap |
| Mental | Sunset | Invent | Flatten |
| Pencil | Basket | Absent | Publish |
| Knapsack | Jungle | Lapdog | Combat |
| Kitten | Contrast | Subject | Mishap |
| Distant | Helmut | Pumpkin | Velvet |
2. Open Syllable
A syllable that ends with a long vowel sound, spelled with a single vowel letter is called open syllable.
Examples of Open Syllable Words
| Vacant | Naval | Propel | Lady |
| Virus | Crazy | Ivy | Baby |
| Navy | July | Photo | Ego |
| Truly | Icy | Holy | Pony |
| Polo | Tidy | Veto | Zero |
| Pupil | Motor | Cobalt | Silo |
| Future | Social | Major | Tiny |
| Behind | Nobody | Locate | Duty |
| Recent | Program | Nature | Bonus |
| Tiger | Table | Favor | Cradle |
| Paper | Fever | Spider | Pilot |
3. Vowel-Consonant-e (VCe) / Magic e Syllable
A syllable with a long vowel, spelled with one vowel + one consonant + silent e is called vowel-consonant-e syllable. It is also called magic e syllable. Let’s have a look at some examples:
| Blade | Trade | Age | Bake |
| Crusade | Wade | Cage | Brake |
| Fade | Massive | Choke | Cake |
| Glade | Give | Image | Drake |
| Grade | Active | Page | Fake |
| Jade | Captive | Rage | Flake |
| Made | Expensive | Sage | Jake |
| Shade | Have | Stage | Lake |
| Spade | Olive | Usage | Make |
| Tirade | Reptile | Wage | Quake |
4. Vowel Team Syllable
A syllable containing two letters that together make one vowel sound is called vowel team syllable. Let’s look at some examples:
| Snow | Reindeer | Shroud | Empowered |
| Flew | Retie | Follower | Mouthful |
| Neither | Pouf | Fiefdom | Boat |
| Piece | Towel | Deceitful | Key |
| Neutered | Ceiling | Eulogy | Load |
| How | Pie | Monkey | Honey |
| About | Eighty | Souk | Valley |
| Neigh | Fewer | Reigning | Room |
| Shadow | Retriever | Dewdrop | Easy |
| Uncouth | Pewter | Fiend | Cream |
5. Diphthong Syllable
A syllable containing two vowels in which a new vowel sound is formed by the combination of both vowel sounds is called diphthong syllable. Following are some examples of Diphthong syllable words:
| Boil | Toy | Straw | Took |
| Throw | Grow | Launch | Good |
| Igloo | Shout | Owl | Slouch |
| Drool | Crowd | Loud | Outing |
| Soup | Youth | Bound | Blown |
| Decoy | Raw | Crown | Down |
| Glue | Awful | Cruiser | August |
| Point | Cool | Royal | Hawk |
| Crawl | House | Broom | Tooth |
| Bruise | Draw | Boost | Fruit |
6. Vowel-r (r-controlled) Syllable
A syllable in which the vowel is followed by the single letter ‘r’ is called vowel-r (r-controlled) syllable. The vowel sound is controlled by the letter ‘r’. Following are some examples of r-controlled words:
| Park | Aware | Blizzard | Award |
| Party | Beware | Dollar | Bird |
| Shirk | Care | Haggard | Coward |
| Smart | Dare | Hazard | Forward |
| Star | Fare | Lanyard | Reward |
| Start | Hare | Lizard | Swarm |
| Superstar | Her | Mustard | Thwart |
| Girl | Mare | Orchard | Toward |
| Tar | Shirt | Burn | Turn |
| Target | Snare | Vineyard | War |
| Yard | Ware | Wizard | Ward |
7. Consonant-le (C-le) Syllable
An unaccented final syllable that contains a consonant before /l/, followed by a silent e is called consonant-le (C-le) syllable. Following are some examples of C+le syllable words:
| Apple | Wiggle | Triple | Nestle |
| Bottle | Bubble | Riddle | Cable |
| Cycle | Hustle | Bundle | Maple |
| Fumble | Mumble | Knuckle | Middle |
| Bugle | Cradle | Freckle | Ankle |
| Gentle | Pickle | Gamble | Castle |
| Able | Dimple | Waffle | Mantle |
| Idle | Settle | Single | Handle |
| Twinkle | Amble | Fable | Puzzle |
| Saddle | Bridle | Noble | Whistle |
We have given names to words having specific number of syllables: monosyllabic (1 Syllable), disyllabic (2 Syllable Words), trisyllabic (3 Syllable Words) and pollysyllabic ( for more than one syllable words).
keep exploring EnglishBix to learn about different phonics phases for your kids.
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