How can phonics help?

The letters in words are organized to give each word its unique structure. Most of the time the organization of letters in words follow regular patterns. Recognizing these patterns will help you to pronounce new words. Being able to break words into their sound parts takes practice.

Words can be divided into smaller parts or groups of letters based on the sound they make. All words have at least one vowel (a, e, i, o, u, or y), so they have at least one syllable. Many words with more than one vowel have more than one syllable.

A syllable is part of a word with at least one vowel sound. If a vowel is silent, it usually does not count as a syllable. The following words are examples of words which have a silent “e”: bike, save, hike, and rake. Each word has one syllable. Now, look at the word “modest”. It has two syllables because it has two vowel sounds. The dot separates the word into two syllables. The “o” makes a vowel sound and the “e” makes a vowel sound.

modest

mod • est

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”.