How does one determine the number of syllables in a given word?

Question

How does one determine the number of syllables in a given word?

Answer 1

it has something to do with the consonant-vowel- consonant aspect of it, in elementary school we used to CLAP at the vowels and that seemed to help. like CAT- one clap, on syllable. or SIERRA, SI-ER-RA, three claps three syllables...i hope this helps haha

Answer 2

Simply by saying the word aloud and counting them.  I don't know how else to describe it.

Answer 3

You can determine the number of syllables by saying it aloud.  Each syllable will have some kind of vowel sound in addition to whichever consonants it contains.  There cannot be a syllable, though, without a vowel sound.  In grade school, students are taught to clap their hands once for each syllable.

Is there a word you are unsure of?

Answer 4

Just count them. In your question, the syllables in each word are: 1 1 1 3 1 2 3 1 1 2 1 - see if that makes sense.