How can phonics help?

Words are created by combining letters together in specific patterns. For example, all words have at least one vowel. Each letter is associated with a specific sound. Sometimes groups of letters are associated with a sound. Recognizing the repeating patterns and combinations of letters can help you guess at the pronunciation of a word.

Dictionaries often show you how to pronounce a word by dividing the word into syllables. Syllables are parts of a word, - one or more letters, which contains one vowel sound. The word has one vowel and it makes one vowel sound. The word “I” is a one syllable word. Words often have more than one vowel. The word bake, for example, has two vowels- “a”, “e”. However, the “e” is silent and makes no sound, therefore the word bake is also a one syllable word. How many syllables does the word forest have?

“forest”

Say the word three times.

There are six basic guidelines to dividing words into syllables. Although the guidelines are useful, there are always exceptions to the guidelines. Consult a good dictionary when in doubt. Look at the following tables.
V means vowel. C means a consonant (a letter that is not a vowel). “r” means the letter “r”, while “le” means the letters “le”.