• What is separating into syllables?
• The tonic syllable
• Words separated into syllables
• Sentences separated into syllables

We explain what separating into syllables is, what it is for and what rules must be followed. In addition, we tell you what the stressed syllable is.

The syllables in Spanish are formed according to the way of producing and modulating the sound.

What is separating into syllables?

split into syllables or hyphenation is the process of breaking down words words in the different articulated sound units that compose them, in which there is normally a vowel and one or more consonants. For example: song, rain.

The syllables in Spanish are formed according to the way of producing and modulating the sound with our speech apparatus. That is why they always contain a vowel (whose sound makes the vocal cords vibrate), which constitutes their nucleus, and whose sound is modulated by one or more consonants (the result of opposing parts of the mouth to the sound flow). The vowels of Spanish are five: a, and, Yo, either, or, while the rest of the letters of the alphabet they are consonants.

So, for example, the word father breaks down into two syllables, each with the same vowel (a) and the same consonant (p): pa–pa. In each, the air column of the vowel is articulated by the consonant. Instead, the word sad also breaks down into two syllables, each with different vowels (Yo, and) and the first with three different consonants (you, r, s): tris–tea.

There are also words like funny, which break down into more syllables: co–me–AC, but its length does not alter the rules for the formation of each syllable, in this case with three vowels (either, Yo, a) and two consonants (c, m).

It is important to note that this separation does not always take into account the morphological rules of the idiom, but strictly follows the logic phonetics, that is, of the sound. Hence, there are certain general rules to separate a word into syllables, such as:

• Every syllable necessarily has a vowel, but may or may not have consonants. For example, in the word aorta there are three syllables, the first without consonants: a–or-ta.
• When there is a consonant between two vowels in a word, the consonant will be part of the syllable of the following vowel. For example, in the word hill, the consonants (he, n) are part of the syllable of the vowel that follows them: co–hei na.
• When there are two consonants followed by the following list: pr, doctor, br, cr, fr, gr, kr, tr, fl, kl, cl, bl, pl, gl, ch Y ll, the consonants will always remain together in the same syllable with the vowel that follows them. For example: tryou were (tris-te), grwalk (gran-of), crthis (cris to), klaxon (kla-xon) either llanta (llanta). On the other hand, if they are not part of this list, the consonants must be separated, as in swimming pool (swimming pool), reactor (reactor) either traction (traction).
• When there are three consonants in a row between two vowels, we should generally leave the first two in the syllable of the first vowel and the third consonant in the syllable of the next vowel. For example: constancy (constancy) either instinct (instinct). But, if of the three consonants in a row, the middle one is p, b, c, g, you either d and the last one is he either r, the rule is reversed: the first consonant remains in the syllable of the first vowel, while the other two go to the next syllable. For example: enclave (enclave) either saddens (en-sad-te-ce).
• When there are four consonants in a row between two vowels, they are normally evenly distributed: two remain in the first syllable, two go to the next syllable. For example: build up (build up) either instruction (instruction).
• When there are two or more vowels in a row, we must pay attention to the type of vowels to know if they go together in the same syllable or not. In order for them to go together, a diphthong either triphthong, and for this it is necessary that they be:
  • A strong vowel (a, and, either) followed by a weak (Yo, or), like in caution (caution) either bribe (coi-ma). This vowel union is known as a descending diphthong.
  • A weak vowel (Yo, or) followed by a strong (a, and, either), like in liana (liana) either therapist (therapist). This vowel union is known as an ascending diphthong.
  • A weak vowel (Yo, or) followed by another, as in city (city) either look after (look after). This vowel union is known as a homogeneous diphthong.
  • A weak vowel (Yo, or) in the middle of two forts (a, and, either), or vice versa, as in you act (act) or in opioid (o-pioi-de). These rare vowel unions are known as triphthongs.

Diphthongs and triphthongs can lose their union if the weak vowels receive an extra force of intonation, that is, when the accent falls on them.

The tonic syllable

Syllabic separation is important to know which is the stressed syllable of the word, that is, which of its syllables receives greater emphasis in pronunciation than the rest. According to the orthographic rules of the language, an accent mark may or may not be written on this emphatic syllable. Thus, in father the emphasis falls on the last syllable, in sad the emphasis falls on the penultimate and on funny falls on the antepenultimate.

Depending on the place where the stressed syllable appears, we can distinguish between the words and know if they have an accent mark or not, as follows:

• Sharp words. They are those in which the stressed syllable falls on the last syllable, such as snail (snail), embankment (embankment) either compass (compass).These types of words have an accent mark when they end in a vowel or in consonants. n either s.
• Serious words either trowels. They are those in which the stressed syllable falls on the penultimate syllable, such as plant (plan-ta), swamp (swamp) either mass (mo-you). These types of words have an accent when they do not end in a vowel or consonants. n either s.
• esdrújulas words. They are those in which the stressed syllable falls on the antepenultimate syllable, such as radish (rá-bath), bed sheet (Sa-ba-na) either petal (pe-ta-lo). These types of words always have an accent.
• Words about esdrújulas. They are those in which the stressed syllable falls on a syllable before the antepenultimate, such as quickly (rá-pi-da-men-te) either take it off (here-ta-se-lo). These types of words always have an accent.

Words separated into syllables

The following are examples of words separated into syllables. The stressed syllable is highlighted in each case.

Word	Separation	Word	Separation
Goat	goat	Truck	truck
Slowness	slowness	Existence	existence
Indifferent	indifferent	Superb	superb
chant	chan-ti-co	paper	pa-pe-lon
Agnostic	agnostic	Survivor	survivor
Main	main	Organization	organization
Hilly	hilly	Illegal	illegal
Orthopedic	orthopedic	quickly	quickly
Eagle	eagle	Correct	correct
Doze	doze	Transatlantic	transatlantic
Billboard	billboard	Revolutionary	revolutionary
Point	point	Sleep	sleep
Football	football	Addition	addition
Grammar	grammar	hang up	hang-gan
Bat	bat	Imprisoned	imprisoned
Sudden	sudden	Index	index
Apprentice	apprentice	Chance	chance
Regrettable	regrettable	Fireplace	fireplace
Citizenship	citizenship	fruit trees	fruits
they guillotined	gui-llo-ti-na-ron	storytelling	tell-tales
Carnival	carnival	Amber	amber
Hairless	hairless	Impression	Print
crushed	a-pla-ta-ron	Consternation	consternation
Polyurethane	polyurethane	Refinery	refinery
inflated	infla-fla-two	cryptocurrency	crypto-to-mo-ne-da
Bird	bird	pristine	pris-ti-nos
will oxygenate	o-xi-ge-na-ran	Stoic	stoic
careful	take care of yourself	Spree	spree
rains	rainy	Atmosphere	atmosphere
strikers	strike-guis-tas	Blackmail	blackmail

Sentences separated into syllables

• Pedro didn't come to the party yesterday.

pe-dro-did-not-see-not-yesterday-at-the-party

• The world is extremely vast and wonderful.

the-world-is-your-ma-men-te-vas-to-y-ma-ra-vi-llo-so

• Dozens of bats die due to air pollution.

they-die-from-dinners-from-mur-cié-la-gos-de-bi-do-a-la-con-ta-mi-na-ción-a-é-re-a

• Groups of concerned citizens gathered in the square.

groups-of-ciu-da-da-nos-pre-o-cu-pa-dos-con-cen-tra-ron-en-la-plaza

• Thai food is too spicy for me.

la-co-mi-da-tai-lan-de-sa-es-de-ma-sia-do-pi-can-te-for-me

• Every Thursday we receive millions of letters from abroad.

every-thursday-we-re-received-millions-of-letters-from-the-ex-tran-je-ro

• We express our solidarity with the families of the victims.

ex-pres-sa-mos-so-li-da-ri-idad-de-los-fa-mi-lias-res-de-víc-ti-mas

• The orchestra resounded well into midnight.

the-or-ques-ta-re-so-no-has-ta-bien-en-tra-da-mid-night-night

• My family is extremely religious.

mi-fa-mi-lia-es-su-ma-men-te-re-li-gio-sa

• Three sad tigers swallow wheat in a wheat field.

tres-tris-tes-ti-gres-tra-gan-tri-go-in-a-tri-gal

• The individual's documentation was completely in order.

la-do-cu-men-ta-ción-del-in-di-vi-duo-se-ha-lla-ba-to-tal-men-te-en-re-gla