How to count syllables in a word (with haiku examples)

A syllable is a beat of sound built around one vowel sound, so the number of syllables in a word is the number of vowel sounds you hear when you say it. Say the word slowly, tap or clap once for each beat, and count the taps: cat is one, wa·ter two, ba·na·na three, ed·u·ca·tion four. Spelling rules help when you are unsure, and a syllable counter does the same job for a whole poem in one step.

Three ways to count syllables by ear

All three methods count the same thing, the vowel sounds; use whichever feels most natural.

1. Clap or tap the beats. Say the word at normal speed and clap once per beat. Com·put·er: three claps.
2. Hand under the chin. Rest the back of your hand under your chin and say the word. Your jaw drops for each vowel sound, so count the drops. This works well for children and for words you say too fast to clap.
3. Hum the word. Hum it with your mouth closed, mm-MM-mm for computer. Each separate hum is a syllable.

The common mistake is counting vowel letters instead of vowel sounds. Make has two vowel letters but one sound, boat has two letters and one sound, while idea has three vowel letters and three sounds. If you count letters, you will usually count too many.

Spelling rules that get you close

When you cannot hear the word (you are counting a long text, or English is not your first language), these rules work from spelling. They are the same rules the syllable counter on this site uses, and every count in this table is its output.

Step	Rule	Examples
1	Count each group of vowel letters (a, e, i, o, u, and y inside or at the end of a word) as one	rain 1, window 2, happy 2
2	A y at the start of a word before a vowel is a consonant	yes 1, you 1
3	Subtract a silent final e	bake 1, close 1
4	…but consonant + le at the end is a syllable	table 2, little 2, bottle 2
5	-ed is silent unless it follows t or d	baked 1, rained 1, wanted 2, needed 2
6	-es adds a syllable after s, x, z, ch, sh, ce or ge	makes 1, boxes 2, closes 2
7	Some vowel pairs are two sounds, not one	idea 3, radio 3, lion 2, going 2, player 2
8	-ism and -thm add a syllable even without a vowel	rhythm 2, prism 2

Steps 1 and 3 do most of the work. Step 7 is where counting goes wrong most often: ea is one sound in sea, tea and bread, but two in area and idea; io is one sound in nation but two in radio. When a vowel pair looks doubtful, say the word and listen for whether your mouth changes shape in the middle.

Words people often miscount

Some everyday words break the rules, usually because a vowel is written but not said, or because two vowels next to each other are said separately. The counts below are the ones the syllable counter gives.

Word	Syllables	Why it trips people up
every	2	The middle e is usually not said (ev·ry)
different	3	Often said diff·rent; written with three vowel groups
interesting	4	Said as three or four depending on the speaker
family	3	Often said fam·ly in quick speech
chocolate	3	Often said choc·late
Wednesday	2	The first d and middle e are silent
business	2	The i after s is silent
people	2	eo is one sound here
poem	2	oe is two sounds here
idea	3	Three separate vowel sounds
queue	1	Four vowel letters, one sound
strengths	1	Nine letters, one vowel
fire	1	Also heard as two, fi·er
flower	2	flow·er

Words like every, family and chocolate are the classic arguments. Dictionaries give the fuller count, but many people say them with a syllable fewer, and both are English. For a poem, what matters is how you will read it aloud.

How to count syllables in a haiku

A traditional Japanese haiku is three lines with seventeen sound units arranged 5, 7 and 5, according to the Academy of American Poets. To check one, count each line on its own and write the number next to it.

Here is a common English version of Bashō’s frog haiku, which is also the example loaded in the syllable counter:

Line	Counted by word	Syllables
An old silent pond	an (1) old (1) si·lent (2) pond (1)	5
A frog jumps into the pond	a (1) frog (1) jumps (1) in·to (2) the (1) pond (1)	7
Splash! Silence again	splash (1) si·lence (2) a·gain (2)	5

And an everyday example, written for this guide:

Morning coffee cools          (5)
while the printer jams again  (7)
rain taps the window          (5)

Mor·ning (2), cof·fee (2), cools (1) gives 5; while the prin·ter jams a·gain gives 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 2 = 7; rain taps the win·dow gives 5.

Fixing a line that is off by one

When a line comes out one short or one long, change a word rather than the idea:

Draft line	Count	Change	New count
the leaves fall down	4	add last	the last leaves drift down: 5
the last red leaves drift slowly down	8	drop red and slowly	the last leaves drift down: 5

Swapping a one-syllable word for a two-syllable synonym (quiet instead of calm, silent instead of still) is the quickest fix. Avoid padding a line with filler such as so or very just to hit the count.

5-7-5 in English is a convention, not a law

The Haiku Society of America explains that Japanese counts on (sounds), which are not the same as English syllables, and notes that some translators consider about twelve English syllables close to the length of seventeen Japanese on. It also says most English haiku are three lines of seventeen or fewer syllables, with the middle line longest. The Academy of American Poets adds that as the form has evolved, its syllable pattern is routinely broken. So use 5-7-5 when an assignment or contest requires it, and treat it as a guide otherwise.

Counting syllables in a poem or song

The same line-by-line method works for any verse:

• Iambic pentameter, the meter of Shakespeare’s sonnets, has five pairs of unstressed and stressed syllables per line, so ten syllables. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? counts 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 1 = 10.
• Song lyrics fit a melody, so a new verse should match the count of the line it replaces. Twinkle, twinkle, little star is 7; any replacement line needs 7 to sing on the same notes.

Contractions count as they are said: don’t is one syllable, do not two. That is a handy way to add or remove a beat without changing the meaning.

Count syllables automatically

For more than a few lines, counting by hand gets slow. The syllable counter does it in your browser:

1. Paste your poem, lyric or list of words into the box (or click Example to load the haiku above).
2. Read Syllables, Words, Per word and Lines at the top.
3. Check Syllables per line, the numbered table that appears when the text has two or more lines. For a haiku it should read 5, 7, 5.
4. Leave List every word with its syllables ticked to see each word’s count and find the one that throws a line off.

It works from English spelling with a list of exceptions, so treat the result as a careful estimate. Things it cannot know from spelling:

Input	Tool counts	Said aloud
17	1	3 (sev·en·teen)
TV	1	2 (tee·vee)
fire	1	1 or 2
poetic	2	3 (po·et·ic)

Write numbers out and check abbreviations yourself when a count must be exact. The average syllables per word is also what readability formulas use: the readability checker turns it into a Flesch score, and the guide to the Flesch reading ease score explains what the number means. If you also need word or line totals, the word counter and line counter give them.

When the count depends on how you say it

English has many words whose syllable count changes with accent and speed: every, family, chocolate, camera, several, favorite, fire, hour, real. No method, by hand or by tool, settles these for you. A practical rule for poems: read the line aloud the way you want it heard, count that, and keep the same choice every time the word appears. For school worksheets, use the count your teacher’s dictionary gives, which is usually the fuller one.