Syllabification: TN Board 12th English Vocabulary PYQs
Welcome to one of the easiest 1-mark questions in your TN Board 12th English Exam! Syllabification (splitting a word into syllables) appears in the objective section (Part I). Examiners often use words with multiple consecutive vowels to trick you into counting too many syllables. Master our advanced vocabulary cheat sheet below, practice the top 20 Previous Year Questions (PYQs), and challenge yourself with the interactive Self-Test!
🔥 Exam Tip & The Advanced Syllabification Cheat Sheet:
- 1. The Golden Rule (Vowel SOUNDS): A syllable is built around a single vowel sound, not the number of vowel letters.
👉 Example: "Queue" has 4 vowel letters but makes only ONE sound (/kyoo/). So, it is Monosyllabic.- 2. The Diphthong Rule: Two consecutive vowels that blend to make one sound stay in the SAME syllable.
👉 Example: beau-ti-ful (3 syllables), peo-ple (2 syllables).- 3. The Silent 'E' Rule: A silent 'e' at the end of a word does NOT create a new syllable.
👉 Example: make (1), drive (1), a-gree-ment (3).- 4. The Double Consonant Split: If a word has double consonants, split the syllable between them.
👉 Example: syl-la-ble, but-ter, sud-den.- 5. Prefix & Suffix Rule: Affixes usually form their own separate syllables.
👉 Example: un-kind, kind-ness, re-build.- 6. Syllable Names to Memorize:
1 = Monosyllabic, 2 = Disyllabic, 3 = Trisyllabic, 4 = Tetrasyllabic, 5 = Pentasyllabic, 6+ = Polysyllabic.
Top 20 Board Exam Questions: Syllabification
Part 1: Monosyllabic (1) & Disyllabic (2) Words
Identify the number of syllables and how to split them. Watch out for silent vowels!
- Question: Syllabify the word: Queue (March 2019)
Answer: Queue (1 syllable - Monosyllabic. The letters 'ueue' produce only one vowel sound) - Question: Syllabify the word: Tongue
Answer: Tongue (1 syllable - Monosyllabic. The 'ue' is silent) - Question: Syllabify the word: People
Answer: Peo-ple (2 syllables - Disyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: Daughter
Answer: Daugh-ter (2 syllables - Disyllabic. 'au' makes one sound) - Question: Syllabify the word: Guitar
Answer: Gui-tar (2 syllables - Disyllabic)
Part 2: Trisyllabic (3) Words
Three vowel sounds. Pay attention to how the middle syllables are divided.
- Question: Syllabify the word: Beautiful (March 2020)
Answer: beau-ti-ful (3 syllables - Trisyllabic. 'eau' is a single sound) - Question: Syllabify the word: Computer
Answer: com-pu-ter (3 syllables - Trisyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: Essential
Answer: es-sen-tial (3 syllables - Trisyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: Tomorrow
Answer: to-mor-row (3 syllables - Trisyllabic. Split the double 'r') - Question: Syllabify the word: Important
Answer: im-por-tant (3 syllables - Trisyllabic)
Part 3: Tetrasyllabic (4) Words
Four syllables. Board examiners love words ending in '-tion' and '-ment'.
- Question: Syllabify the word: Articulate (March 2022)
Answer: ar-tic-u-late (4 syllables - Tetrasyllabic. Note: 'u' stands alone as a syllable here) - Question: Syllabify the word: Entertainment
Answer: en-ter-tain-ment (4 syllables - Tetrasyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: Technology
Answer: tech-nol-o-gy (4 syllables - Tetrasyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: Magnificent
Answer: mag-nif-i-cent (4 syllables - Tetrasyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: Application
Answer: ap-pli-ca-tion (4 syllables - Tetrasyllabic. 'tion' is always one syllable)
Part 4: Pentasyllabic (5) & Polysyllabic (6+) Words
Five or more syllables. Count carefully by sounding the word out slowly.
- Question: Syllabify the word: Electricity (March 2023)
Answer: e-lec-tric-i-ty (5 syllables - Pentasyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: University
Answer: u-ni-ver-si-ty (5 syllables - Pentasyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: Examination
Answer: ex-am-i-na-tion (5 syllables - Pentasyllabic) - Question: Syllabify the word: Association
Answer: as-so-ci-a-tion (5 syllables - Pentasyllabic. The 'i' and 'a' separate because they are pronounced separately: ci-a) - Question: Syllabify the word: Unimaginative
Answer: un-i-mag-i-na-tive (6 syllables - Polysyllabic / Hexasyllabic)
📝 Test Yourself: Syllabification Challenge!
Have you mastered the vowel sound rules? Try solving these 5 tricky 12th board-level questions. Click on "Show Answer" to check your accuracy!
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Question: How many syllables are in the word "Strength"?
👉 Click here to Show Answer
Answer: 1 (Monosyllabic)
(Rule: Despite having 8 letters, it only has one vowel 'e', making a single vowel sound.) -
Question: Choose the correct syllabification for "Biology": (a) bi-ol-o-gy (b) bio-lo-gy (c) bi-o-lo-gy
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Answer: (a) bi-ol-o-gy (4 syllables - Tetrasyllabic)
(Rule: We say 'bye-awl-uh-gee'. The 'o' joins the 'l' for the second syllable.) -
Question: Syllabify the word "Particular".
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Answer: par-tic-u-lar (4 syllables - Tetrasyllabic)
(Rule: The 'u' in the middle creates a distinct 'yoo' sound and stands alone as a syllable.) -
Question: Name the syllable category for a word with 5 syllables.
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Answer: Pentasyllabic (or Polysyllabic).
(Rule: Mono=1, Di=2, Tri=3, Tetra=4, Penta=5.) -
Question: How many syllables are in the word "Courageous"?
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Answer: cou-ra-geous (3 syllables - Trisyllabic)
(Rule: The 'ou' makes one sound, 'a' makes one, and the 'eous' blend makes one sound /juhs/.)
The ultimate trick to scoring full marks in Syllabification is the "Chin Drop Test." Place your hand under your chin and say the word naturally. The number of times your chin drops to make a vowel sound is exactly the number of syllables the word has! Bookmark this page, practice thoroughly, and secure your marks in the TN Board English Exam!