Syllable Divider
Type or paste English words to see each one divided into syllables (beau·ti·ful), its syllable count and which syllable is stressed. Divisions come from the Moby Hyphenator dictionary and stress from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; words in neither are split by phonological rules and marked as estimates.
To divide a word into syllables, give each vowel sound its own syllable, then split the consonants between vowel sounds: between two consonants (rab·bit), before a single consonant after a long vowel (ti·ger), after it after a short vowel (cam·el), before a consonant + le ending (ta·ble), and around prefixes, suffixes and the parts of compound words (un·hap·py, sun·shine).
Use the Syllable Divider
Enter Words
Separate multiple words with spaces, commas or new lines. Up to 50 words at once.
Dictionary: about 230,000 words, downloaded by first letter when needed.
Quick Examples
Results
Enter words on the left to see syllable divisions
Summary
Syllable division rules with examples
Each example is divided as in the dictionary the tool uses.
| Pattern | Rule | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Two consonants between vowels (VC/CV) | Divide between the consonants | rab·bit, pen·cil, bas·ket, nap·kin |
| One consonant after a long vowel (V/CV) | Divide before the consonant: open syllable | ti·ger, ro·bot |
| One consonant after a short vowel (VC/V) | Divide after the consonant: closed syllable | cam·el, lem·on |
| Consonant + le ending | The consonant joins -le | ta·ble, can·dle, ap·ple, ma·ple |
| Digraphs and blends | Keep th, ch, sh, ph, dr, st… together | ath·lete, teach·er, hun·dred, mon·ster |
| Prefixes, suffixes, compounds | Split at the word parts | un·hap·py, hop·ing, sun·shine |
Data: Moby Hyphenator II (public domain) and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (© Carnegie Mellon University, BSD license).
Quick answer
To divide a word into syllables, give each vowel sound its own syllable, then split the consonants between vowel sounds: between two consonants (rab·bit), before a single consonant after a long vowel (ti·ger), after it after a short vowel (cam·el), before a consonant + le ending (ta·ble), and around prefixes, suffixes and the parts of compound words (un·hap·py, sun·shine). Consonant digraphs such as th, ch and sh stay together (ath·lete).
Examples
| Word | Syllables | Count | Stress |
|---|---|---|---|
| beautiful | BEAU·ti·ful | 3 | 1st syllable |
| education | ed·u·CA·tion | 4 | 3rd (secondary on 1st) |
| pronunciation | pro·nun·ci·A·tion | 5 | 4th (secondary on 2nd) |
| photography | pho·TOG·ra·phy | 4 | 2nd |
Enter your own words above, or click an example.
Summary
The Syllable Divider breaks English words into syllables and shows the syllable count and stress for each. It looks every word up in a dictionary of about 230,000 entries built from the Moby Hyphenator II word list (where the syllable breaks come from) and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (where primary and secondary stress come from), so common and technical words match a printed dictionary rather than a guess. Words that are in neither list, such as new coinages or unusual names, are split with onset-nucleus-coda rules and labelled as estimates. You can copy the result with middle dots, hyphens, slashes or HTML soft hyphens for typesetting. The dictionary is downloaded in small pieces only for the letters you use, and everything runs in your browser.
How it works
- Type or paste up to 50 English words, separated by spaces, commas or new lines.
- Each word is looked up in the dictionary file for its first letter, downloaded once on demand. Possessives (dog's, dogs') use the base word.
- Dictionary words are split at the Moby Hyphenator syllable breaks; the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary supplies the stress of each syllable (primary, secondary or unstressed).
- If the dictionaries disagree on the number of syllables (for example choc·o·late, often said in two), the written division is shown with a note on the spoken count.
- Words not in either dictionary are split with rule-based heuristics (vowel nuclei, the maximum-onset principle, consonant + le and common suffixes) and marked "rule estimate".
- Pick a separator and click a card, or Copy All, to copy the divided words.
Use cases
- Help children and ESL learners read and pronounce multi-syllable words.
- Count syllables for poetry, song lyrics or haiku.
- Check which syllable is stressed before practising pronunciation.
- Insert soft hyphens (­) into long words for web typography.
- Prepare syllable-division exercises for phonics lessons.
- Support speech therapy work that needs syllable-level word lists.