Young Writers Society

Well, I'm not sure if this should go here, but it will, so.
Anyway, I have a problem. In Portuguese, I can and know how to separate and count syllables. In English, not so much. My English teacher won't explain it to me, because we're not on that level yet. We're still learning the present/past perfect. it's so incredibly boring. Anyway, how do we count syllables? Like in you, and, so, on? Do they count as one? And how do you separate them?

--Thanks!
*Kat*

You have to break up words into sounds. For example, Hippopotamus.

Hip-Po-Po-Ta-Mus

Skateboard:

Skate-board

These things can get a bit confusing, especially if some people don't agree on how many syllables some words have. If you need help with this, cause this isn't that clear, you can PM me.

Like in you, and, so, on?

Yes, all of those count as one syllable. English is incredibly confusing, so there's no concrete rule as to how to count syllables, but normally it's pretty easy to tell. Other times, people get into disputes over where to break the syllables.

For example.

Telephone

Some people say it's: te-le-phone.

Other says it's: tel-e-phone.

It doesn't really affect how the word is pronounced, though.

I'm not really sure what you're asking. Is this right? You can PM me if you need further help, also. ^^

Yeah, thanks guys! In telephone, I would say it's te-le-pho-ne. Because I get confused with the portuguese rules.
Anyway, thanks!