| HOME | Table of Contents | Jump to the Syllabification Process |
| RULES | EXAMPLES | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Spanish letters are either vowels or consonants. | Vowels: a, e, i, o, u. (y is just another form of i)
Consonants are all other letters: b, c, ch, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, ll, m, n, ń, p, q, r, rr, s, t, v, w, x, and z. |
| 2. | Spanish vowels are either weak or strong. | Strong: a, e, o Weak: u, i |
| 3. | The combination of one weak and one strong vowel or two weak vowels makes a diphthong. (A diphthong is two vowels with a single sound). |
ai , ei, io , iu |
| 4. | A Spanish word has one syllable for every vowel or diphthong. | |
| Every syllable must have one and only one vowel or diphthong. | ||
| 5. | If a single consonant is between vowels: divide before the | ca | la | ba | za |
| consonant. | ||
| REMEMBER: 'LL' and 'RR' are single consonants. | co | llar , ca | rro | |
| 6. | If two consonants are together, divide them unless the second | can | tar |
| one is 'L' or 'R.' | ||
| REMEMBER: 'LL' and 'RR' are single consonants. | ||
| 7. | If two consonants are together and the second one is 'L' or 'R,' | a | tra | er |
| divide before the pair (before the first of the two consonants) as | ||
| if they were a single consonant. | ||
| 8. | If three consonants are together, divide before the third one | trans | fi | gu | rar |
| unless the third one is 'L' or 'R.' | ||
| 9. | If three consonants are together and the third one is 'L' or 'R,' | con | tra |
| divide before the second consonant. | ||
| 10. | Prefixes should remain intact; do not divide away the last consonant | des | en | te | rrar |
| away from a prefix even if it is a single consonant between | ||
| vowels. | ||
| 11. | Never divide CH, LL, or RR; they are single consonants. Since | e | char |
| Spanish has no single sign for these sounds two characters are | e | lla | |
| written for the single sound. | e | rror | |
| 12. | Two strong vowels MUST be divided. | ca | er |
| 13. | An accent mark over the weak vowel (u or i) of a diphthong | en | ten | dí | as |
| makes the weak vowel strong, and it is no longer a diphthong. | ||
| Separate the two vowels as per rule #12 above. |
| Follow these steps in this order to correctly divide Spanish words: | |
|---|---|
| 1. | Scan the word from left to right. |
| 2. | If the word begins with a prefix, divide between the word and the prefix. |
| 3. | Ignore one or two consonants if they begin a word. |
| 4. | Skip over vowels. |
| 5. | When you come to a consonant, see how many consonants are between vowels.
1. If there is only one, divide to the left of it (Remember, CH, LL, and RR are all single consonants). 2. If there are two, divide to the left of the second one, BUT if the second one is L or R, divide to the left of the first one. 3. If there are three, divide to the left of the third one, BUT if the third one is L or R, divide to the left of the second one. 4. If there are four, the fourth one will always be L or R, so divide before the third consonant. |
| 6. | If the consonant ends the word, ignore it. |
| 7. | Scan the word a second time to see if two or more vowels are together. 1. If two vowels together are both weak ( UI or IU ), ignore them. 2. If one of the vowels is weak ( U or I ), ignore them, BUT if the U or I has an accent mark, divide between the two vowels. 3. If only one of the vowels is weak ( U or I ), and there is an accent mark which is not on the U or I, ignore them. 4. If both vowels are strong ( A, E, O ), divide between the vowels. 5. If there are three vowels together, ignore them if two of them are weak even if there is an accent mark; if two of the three vowels are strong, the third will be weak - separate the two strong vowels if they are side by side. |