Syllables

So, in Spanish, there are a few rules for breaking up words into syllables. When looking at words, follow these rules first, and the rest should largely work itself out by breaking it up into sounds. The rules revolve around weak and strong vowels.

• Strong vowels: a, e, o
• Weak vowels: i, u

1. Two weak vowels: one syllable
2. One weak and one strong vowel: one syllable
3. Two strong vowels: split the syllables, they cannot go together

An important thing to note here is that when a weak vowel has an accent, that turns it into a strong vowel.

Examples

• casa -> ca-sa
• cansado -> can-sa-do
• cielo -> cie-lo
• cansansio -> can-san-sio
• puerta -> puer-ta
• caer -> ca-er
• aereopuerto -> a-e-re-o-puer-to

Exercises

Split the following words into syllables:

• fiesta
• humano
• fantasía
• deseo
• qué
• quince
• murciélago