When we say a word, the sounds we create naturally divide the word into parts. We call these parts “syllables.” For example, the word “machine” has two parts: ma-chine. The word “important” has three parts: im-por-tant.

The number of syllables in a word is decided by its number of vowel sounds. For example, in the word “machine,” there are two vowel sounds: (Ə) and (i).

The English language has up to 20 vowel sounds, so we will not talk about all of them today. But an easy way to identify vowels is that we make them with the letters a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y.

It is important to know that one syllable can have more than one vowel letter. For example, the word “room” has two vowel letters: o and o. But together, they make only one vowel sound: (u:). This explains why “room” has only one syllable. We decide syllables by sound, not spelling.

How to count

Ok, here are two easy methods for counting syllables.

One that I like is the chin method. Here is how to do it: Rest your hand under your chin and say a word slowly. How many times does your chin drop onto your hand? That is the number of syllables.

Another is the clap method. To use it, say the word and clap your hands together each time you hear a vowel sound. For example, take the word "autumn": au-tumn. That’s two vowel sounds, so it’s two syllables even though autumn has three vowel letters: a, u and u.