Rules of Syllabication for Spanish
Syllables in Spanish are formed in combination of a
consonant and a vowel or by a strong vowel
standing alone.
Examples: di-fí-cil o-lor chi-le-na
1. V-CV (or V-CV) This means a single consonant
sound between two vowels always starts the next
syllable:
o-so, ma-no, o-la, o-ro, re-ve-la-do
Letter combinations ch, ll, and rr are DIGRAPHS
or pairs of letters that represent only one sound and
are therefore not separated: ha-cha, ca-lle, pe-rro
(compare to English ch, ck, ph, sh, th)
2. V-CCV The first possibility of two adjoining
consonants between vowels or at the beginning of a
word is a syllable-initial CLUSTER as long as they
are one of the following 12 groups: pl, pr, bl, br,
tr, dr, cl (/k/ in sound), cr (/kr/ in sound), gl, gr, fl,
fr.
Note that the second consonant in these clusters is
always /l/ or /r/ (Hint: always separate consonants
whose second letter is not /l/ or /r/.
pl pla-ya, a-pli-car cl cli-ma, bu-cle
Dr. Valerio Dalbor p126-129 1
pr pro-bar, o-pri-mir cr cre-ma, la-cre
bl blan-co, do-ble gl glo-ria, i-gle-sia
br bri-sa, a-bre gr gris, a-grio
tr tres, o-tro fl flor, chi-fla-do
dr dra-ma, la-drar fr frí-o, co-fre
VC-CV The second possibility of two adjoining
consonants between vowels is a sequence of two
consonants other than those above, which must be
divided, one with each syllable. Notice that s is in
this part of the rule and not with syllable-initial
clusters.
These examples are found within words.
r-l per-la r-s Pér-si-co
b-t ob-te-ner b-y ab-yec-to
c-c lec-ción t-b fút-bol
n-d gran-de c-t ac-to
s-f es-fe-ra s-c es-ca-par
3. VC-CCV The first possibility of three adjoining
consonants between vowels is a syllable-final
consonant and a syllable-initial cluster, which must
be one of the twelve in Rule 2 above. The first goes
with the preceding vowel, the next two start the
next syllable.
m-br hom-bre m-bl a-sam-ble-a
m-pr siem-pre m-pl sim-ple
l-fr Al-fre-do l-dr sal-dra
Dr. Valerio Dalbor p126-129 2
n-cl an-cla n-tr en-trar
s-pr des-pren-der s-tr as-tro
The second possibility of three adjoining consonants
between vowels is a syllable-final cluster and a single
syllable-initial consonant. The second consonant in
these syllable-final clusters is always /s/. The sound
group /ks-/ in these cases is spelled with an x. Here
are examples within words.
ns-p trans-por-te ns-t ins-tan-te
x-p /ks-p/ ex-per-to x-t /ks-t/ ex-tin-guir
rs-p pers-pi-caz ns-c trans-cur-so
4. VCC-CCV The only possibility of four adjoining
consonants between vowels is a syllable-final
cluster and then a syllable-initial cluster, a
relatively rare combination in Spanish. The second
consonant of the first cluster is almost always /s/
(sometimes spelled with an x and thus really /ks-/),
and the second cluster is always one of the 12 we
have already seen in rules 2 and : pl, pr, bl, and so
on.
ns-pl trans-plan-te bs-tr obs-truc-ción
Dr. Valerio Dalbor p126-129 3
5. V-V The first and by far most frequent possibility
of two adjoining vowels is the hiatus situation, that
is, each vowel in a separate syllable. Don’t forget
that V can also stand for a stressed /í/ or /ú/ as well
as any /a/, /e/, or /o/.
e-a cre-a o-e po-e-ta
e-o cre-o o-a clo-a-ca
a-e ca-e a-o ca-os
e-í le-í í-e rí-e
a-í ca-í í-a dí-a
o-í o-ís-te í-o mí-o
a-ú ba-úl ú-a grú-a
e-ú re-ú-ne ú-e gra-dú-e
VV, VV, VVV The remaining vowel combinations
consist of unstressed /i/ or /u/—the semi-vowels or
“weak” vowels—beside another vowel in the same
syllable. If an /i/ or /u/ occurs before a /u/ or an /i/,
respectively, the first one is always the semi-vowel.
ia viaje ai hay
ie sie-te ei seis
io pio-jo oi boi-na
ua sua-ve au cau-sa
ue bue-no eu deu-da
uo cuo-ta ou (no common examples)
iu viu-da ui rui-do
iei es-tu-diéis uei graduéis
uai con-ti-nuáis uau guau-guau
Dr. Valerio Dalbor p126-129 4
Listen to your instructor saying the following words
or phrases. Divide them into syllables…
gente arreglaron
ostra oclusivo
insiste alegría
arte otorrinolaringología
Atlántico subdirector
argumento extraterritorial
construcción reúnen
obstáculo murciélago
Dr. Valerio Dalbor p126-129 5