Answer:
garlic has 2 syllables
What is a syllable?
A syllable is the sound of a vowel (A, E, I, O, U) that is created when pronouncing the letters A, E, I, O, U, or Y.
The letter "Y" is a vowel only if it creates an A, E, I, O, or U sound.
examples: fry, try, cry, & dry
The number of times that you hear the sound of a vowel is the number of syllables in a word.
When two (or more) vowels are next to each other, the number of syllables depends on the number of vowel sounds.
examples: free (1 syllable), eat (1 syllable), & bio (2 syllables)
If a vowel is silent, it is not counted as a syllable.
example: fire (1 syllable)
Does the word end with "le" or "les?" This is a syllable if the letter before the "le" is a consonant.
5 Ways to Count Syllables
(Syllable Rules Below)
- First, do you know what a syllable is? Learn Here
The "Listen Method" Rules
Say the word.
How many times do you hear A, E, I, O, or U as a separate sound?
This is the number of syllables.
The "Chin Method" Rules
Put your hand under your chin.
Say the word.
How many times does your chin touch your hand?
This is the number of syllables.
The "Clap Method" Rules
Clapping may help you find syllables.
Say the word.
Clap each time you hear A, E, I, O, or U as a separate sound.
The number of claps is the number of syllables.
- The "Robot Speak Method" Rules
Make believe you are a robot from the year 2000.
Say a word as this robot.
Pay attention to the pauses you make.
How many parts did you break your word into?
Example:
robot = "ro" *pause* "bot"... 2 syllables
Listen: pronouncing robot sound
This is the number of syllables.
The "Written Method" Rules
Count the number of vowels (A, E, I, O, U) in the word.
Add 1 every time the letter 'y' makes the sound of a vowel (A, E, I, O, U).
Subtract 1 for each silent vowel (like the silent 'e' at the end of a word).
Subtract 1 for each diphthong or triphthong in the word.
Diphthong: when 2 vowels make only 1 sound (au, oy, oo)
Triphthong: when 3 vowels make only 1 sound (iou)
Does the word end with "le" or "les?" Add 1 only if the letter before the "le" is a consonant.
The number you get is the number of syllables in your word.
