Syllable Division Rules Quiz

Syllable Division Rules

• Electronic dictionaries may not always agree on word division.
• Review and adjust electronic word division decisions as needed.
• Avoid dividing words at the end of a line whenever possible.
• Divide words at the most logical point, avoiding disruption to the reader.
• Divide words only between syllables. Consult a dictionary when in doubt.
• Do not divide one-syllable words.
• Do not separate a one-letter syllable at the beginning or end of a word; examples: amaze (not a-maze), media (not medi-a) and idea (not i-dea). Some dictionaries no longer mark one-letter syllables at the beginning or end.
• When typing words like e-mail, use a hyphen.
• Do not divide a word unless you can leave at least three characters on the upper line and carry at least three characters to the next line (last character may be punctuation). Avoid dividing words with fewer than six letters, whenever possible.
• Do not divide abbreviations; examples: ACTION, UNICEF, NASDAQ
• Do not divide contractions; examples: haven't, shouldn't.

Preferred Division Practices

• While acceptable to divide at almost any syllable break, often grouping syllables for improved intelligibility is preferred.
• Divide compound words between the elements of the compound; e.g., eye-witness, time-saving.
• Divide hyphenated compound words at the hyphen; e.g., self-confidence.
• Divide words after a prefix rather than within it; e.g., intro-duce rather than in-troduce.
• Avoid divisions that might confuse the reader
• Divide before a suffix rather than within it; e.g., comprehensible, not comprehen-sible.
• When a word has both a prefix and suffix, divide at the point providing better syllable grouping.
• Divide after prefixes or before suffixes; avoid dividing within the root word.
• Divide after a one-letter syllable when it occurs within the root of the word.

Divisions When Vowels Come Together

• Divide words between separately-sounded vowels; e.g., crea-tion, pre-eminent.
• Do not divide between vowels when they represent a single sound; e.g., main-tained, extraor-dinary.

Additional Division Rules

• Extremely long numbers can be divided after a comma; try to keep at least six digits on the line below and four digits on the line above.
• Try not to end several consecutive lines with hyphens.
• Try to avoid dividing at the end of the first or last line of a paragraph.
• Avoid dividing the last word on a page.
• Keep together words that need to be read together (e.g., page number, month and day, title and surname, number and abbreviation.)
• When necessary, break longer word groups as follows:
  • Addresses between street names and Avenue/Boulevard, etc
  • City and state/ZIP Code in place names
  • Break between name's given name and surname
  • Names preceded by titles between the title and the name
  • Break numbered/lettered enumerations before numbers, but not after
  • Sentences with a dash should be broken after the dash.
  • Sentences with ellipsis marks should be broken after the ellipsis.

Syllabication Guides

• Syllabication is mainly based on pronunciation.
• Note how syllabication changes due to pronunciation changes; e.g., present (verb) vs. present (noun).
• If a word ends in double consonants before a suffix, you can safely divide after the double consonants.
• If a final consonant of the base word is doubled when adding a suffix, you can safely divide between the doubled consonants if the suffix creates an extra syllable.
• When double consonants are not final in the base word, divide between them.
• Divide words between two consonants separating two vowels.
• If a single consonant occurs between two vowels and the first vowel is long and accented, then the consonant goes with the second vowel.
• If a single consonant occurs between two vowels and the first vowel is short and accented, then the consonant stays with the first vowel.
• If a word ends in -le, the consonant preceding it usually goes with the -le to form a syllable.