1 in General, Syllables in the Spanish Language End in Vowels

Division of Syllables1

1 In general, syllables in the Spanish language end in vowels. Example: pa-ta-ta

2 Normally, single consonants that come between vowels are part of the following syllable: Example: pa-ra-da

3 Do not separate the letters ch, ll or rr. These letters and the letter ñ will form part of the following syllable. Examples: pe-rro; mu-cho

4 As in English, prefixes are separated from the root word. Example: ad-mi-sión

Note: If the first member of a pair of consonants forms part of a prefix, break up the pair of consonants so that the prefix remain intact. Example: sub-ma-ri-no

5 When two strong vowels (The “strong” vowels are a, e, and o.) occur side-by-side, they are parts of different syllables: Example: po-e-ta

6 Diphthongs remain part of the same syllable unless broken apart by an accent on the i or u of the pair . (In most cases, diphthongs are pairs of vowels in which one of the vowels in the pair is an a, e, or o, (“strong”) and the other vowel is a u, y or i . It does not matter which vowel comes first in the pair. Note: The paired “weak” vowels ui and uy are also considered to be diphthongs. Examples: cien-cia; po-e-sí-a

7 Triphthongs must be part of the same syllable. (Triphthongs are combinations of three vowels. The first vowel of the combination must be either an i or a u. The second vowel in the combination must be either an a or an e. The third vowel of the combination must be either an i or a y.) Example: a-pre-ciéis

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1 Marathon Montrose Ramsey has done a detailed study on this topic in his book A Textbook of Modern Spanish,(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1956) pp.16 and 17. Although the explanations are spread out throughout the text, the workbook for Dime 1 also does a good job explaining this subject. See Fabián Samaniego et al. Dime 1 Cuaderno de Actividades, (Lexington, Massachusetts: D.C. Heath and Co., 1993) pp. 73, 74, and 236. I have tried to recombine information adapted from both sources to make this single rule sheet both comprehensive and comprehensible. 8 Separate two consonants that are sandwiched between two vowels. Example: can-tan-te

Note: Do not separate paired consonants which have an l or an r as the second member of the pair. These paired consonants belong to the following syllable. Exception: Separate the paired consonants sl. Examples: ha-blar; es-lo-gan

9 When separating words into syllables, do not leave syllables that consist of single vowels “hanging out” by themselves at the beginning or end of a line of text. Examples: o-ír; po-e-sí-a