A syllable is a unit of sound. It can be a vowel, a diphthong, or one or more vowels combined with one or more consonants.
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Single-syllable words can be formed using one letter or many letters.
a |
be |
six |
look |
bought |
In most English dictionaries, words that are more than one syllable are divided by a dot or space between the syllables.
Click on the example words to hear the difference between words with one, two, three, and four syllables.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
through | ex·it | po·ta·to | in·cred·i·ble |
Syllable Stress
English words that are polysyllabic (have more than one syllable) always have one syllable that is stressed. In most English dictionaries, the stressed syllable is indicated by a stress mark, a symbol that resembles an apostrophe. The stress mark follows the syllable that is stressed.
For example, in the word incredible, the second syllable (-cred-) is stressed. Here are some examples.
2 | 3 | 4 |
ex′it | op′po·site | Feb′ru·ar·y |
hu′mid | ex·am′ine | in·cred′i·ble |
ma·chine′ | em·ploy·ee′ | psy·cho′lo·gy |
In English, most two-syllable nouns are stressed on the first syllable.
A′pril | car′rot | hon′or | fa′ther |
Mon′day | le′mon | e′vil | Mar′y |
Putting stress on the correct syllable is especially important for words that are both nouns and verbs. Usually, if the stress is placed on the first syllable it is a noun. If the stress is placed on the second syllable it is a verb.
noun | verb |
con′test | con·test′ |
de′fect | de·fect′ |
in′sert | in·sert′ |
ob′ject | ob·ject′ |
pre′sent | pre·sent′ |
pro′test | pro·test′ |
re′call | re·call′ |
re′cord | re·cord′ |
Related lessons:
Awsome answer . I really mean it . I don’t know how to mark stress for some words . Now I feel very happy . Thank you a lot .