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.

Single-syllable words can be formed using one letter or many letters.

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.

Syllable Stress

In words that are polysyllabic (have more than one syllable), one syllable 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.

Note: In English, most two-syllable nouns are stressed on the first syllable.

Putting stress on the correct syllable is especially important for words that are both nouns and verbs. 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.

Related lessons:

Pronunciation
Verbs
 

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