Dividing a word into syllables

It's easy, count the number of vowels in a word (but pronunciation is what counts, not writing!) and that's the number of its syllables.

Hi,

Simply counting vowels won't work eg a word like 'receive', which has 4 vowels but only two syllables. As noted above, it's based on the sound.

Clive

I probably wasn't clear on that. What I meant to ask is how do you know how to divide a word into syllables if you're writing it down? For example in Italian, my language, if you're writing a word and you need to break it, there are very clear rules about it, so you don't usually have doubts. For example, the word "separare" (= to separate) is divided as se-pa-ra-re, with the sequence CV-CV-CV-CV

Hi,

You are taking the wrong approach in counting consonants and vowels. eg phone and fox both have one syllable, despite the double consonants 'ph'. Consider the sound, not the letters.

the word "television", which has a similar consonant/vowel sequence, is divided as tele-vi-sion, that is CVCV-CV-CVVC. No,

As the posts above state, it depends on the vowel sounds, not how the vowels are spelled. Unlike Italian, not all the letters are pronounced as they are written.

Our syllable clusters are built around each vowel sound, but the C/V combinations for a syllable can vary (V, VC, CV, CVC, CCVC etc). We don't look up syllables in a dictionary - we can hear them. Instinct? Probably

I'd like to ask native speakers [ if ] there are clear rules to divide an English words into syllables. Do you automatically know how to do it or do you use a dictionary every time you have to?

I notice that your question is not: How do you determine how many syllables are in an English word? In case it was, that answer has been given above!

I would answ

There are rules to divide english words. Here is a link to help you:www.ehow.com/how_2337722_divide-english-words-syllables.html

what is the syllable for automatic and divide it into syllables.