Open Syllable
An open syllable occurs when a vowel is at the end of the syllable, resulting in the long vowel sound, e.g. pa/per, e/ven, o/pen, go & we. Open syllable words are open because they are not closed by a consonant.
Whereas a closed syllable occurs when a syllable ends with a consonant, resulting in a short vowel sound, e.g., cat, sit, got & wet. The consonant closes these words. Closed syllable words are more prevalent in the English language.
The table below illustrates the open and closed syllable concept.
| (Long Vowel Sound) |
(Short Vowel Sound) |
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Open Syllable Words
The table below contains over 150 open syllable words. We also provide the syllabication for each word to emphasize the open syllable concept. The table also indicates each word’s long vowel sound as well as the location of the open syllable – beginning (initial), middle (medial) or ending (final) of a word.
| Open Syllable Word | Syllabication | Long Vowel | Useage |
|---|---|---|---|
| able | able | Long-A | initial |
| ache | ache | Long-A | initial |
| acorn | acorn | Long-A | initial |
| acre | acre | Long-A | initial |
| agent | agent | Long-A | initial |
| ago | ago | Long-O | final |
| also | al/so | Long-O | final |
| apex | apex | Long-A | initial |
| apricot | apri/cot | Long-A | initial |
| April | April | Long-A | initial |
| apron | apron | Long-A | initial |
| area | ar/ea | Long-E | medial |
| Asia | Asia | Long-A | initial |
| auto | au/to | Long-O | final |
| baby | ba/by | Long-A | medial |
| basic | ba/sic | Long-A | medial |
| basis | ba/sis | Long-A | medial |
| be | be | Long-E | final |
| beautiful | beau/ti/ful | Long-U | medial |
| being | be/ing | Long-E | medial |
| bicycle | bi/cy/cle | Long-I | medial |
| broken | bro/ken | Long-O | medial |
| bugle | bu/gle | Long-U | medial |
| cargo | car/go | Long-O | final |
| cedar | ce/dar | Long-E | medial |
| China | Chi/na | Long-I | medial |
| climate | cli/mate | Long-I | medial |
| communicate | com/mu/ni/cate | Long-U | medial |
| community | com/mu/ni/ty | Long-U | medial |
| continuous | con/tin/u/ous | Long-U | medial |
| crazy | cra/zy | Long-A | medial |
| cubic | cu/bic | Long-U | medial |
| demon | de/mon | Long-E | medial |
| depot | de/pot | Long-E | medial |
| diagram | di/a/gram | Long-I | medial |
| dinosaur | di/no/saur | Long-I | medial |
| echo | echo | Long-O | final |
| eclipse | eclipse | Long-E | initial |
| ecology | ecology | Long-E | initial |
| edict | edict | Long-E | initial |
| Egyptian | Egyp/tian | Long-E | initial |
| Long-E | initial | ||
| emission | emis/sion | Long-E | initial |
| emit | emit | Long-E | initial |
| enunciate | enun/ci/ate | Long-E | initial |
| equal | equal | Long-E | initial |
| equator | e/qua/tor | Long-A | medial |
| equator | e/qua/tor | Long-E | initial |
| equinox | equi/nox | Long-E | initial |
| ether | ether | Long-E | initial |
| even | even | Long-E | initial |
| evening | eve/ning | Long-E | initial |
| evil | evil | Long-E | initial |
| female | fe/male | Long-E | medial |
| flavor | fla/vor | Long-A | medial |
| fuel | fu/el | Long-U | medial |
| fugitive | fu/gi/tive | Long-U | medial |
| funeral | fu/ner/al | Long-U | medial |
| future | fu/ture | Long-U | medial |
| giant | gi/ant | Long-I | medial |
| go | go | Long-O | final |
| gravy | gra/vy | Long-A | medial |
| hazy | ha/zy | Long-A | medial |
| he | he | Long-E | final |
| hello | hel/lo | Long-O | final |
| hero | he/ro | Long-O | final |
| human | hu/man | Long-U | medial |
| humid | hu/mid | Long-U | medial |
| humor | hu/mor | Long-U | medial |
| I | I | Long-I | initial |
| icy | icy | Long-I | initial |
| idea | idea | Long-I | initial |
| iodine | io/dine | Long-I | initial |
| Iowa | Iowa | Long-I | initial |
| iris | iris | Long-I | initial |
| Irish | Irish | Long-I | initial |
| item | item | Long-I | initial |
| ivory | ivo/ry | Long-I | initial |
| January | Jan/u/ary | Long-U | medial |
| label | la/bel | Long-A | medial |
| labor | la/bor | Long-A | medial |
| ladle | la/dle | Long-A | medial |
| lady | la/dy | Long-A | medial |
| lazy | la/zy | Long-A | medial |
| legal | le/gal | Long-E | medial |
| lion | li/on | Long-I | medial |
| maybe | may/be | Long-E | final |
| me | me | Long-E | final |
| menu | menu | Long-U | final |
| meter | me/ter | Long-E | medial |
| moment | mo/ment | Long-O | medial |
| museum | mu/se/um | Long-E | medial |
| museum | mu/se/um | Long-U | medial |
| music | mu/sic | Long-U | medial |
| musician | mu/si/cian | Long-U | medial |
| navy | na/vy | Long-A | medial |
| no | no | Long-O | final |
| obey | obey | Long-O | initial |
| oboe | oboe | Long-O | initial |
| ocean | ocean | Long-O | initial |
| October | Oc/to/ber | Long-O | medial |
| odor | odor | Long-O | initial |
| Ohio | Ohio | Long-O | initial |
| okra | okra | Long-O | initial |
| open | open | Long-O | initial |
| over | over | Long-O | initial |
| paper | pa/per | Long-A | medial |
| piano | pi/a/no | Long-O | final |
| pilot | pi/lot | Long-I | medial |
| poem | po/em | Long-O | medial |
| potato | po/ta/to | Long-A | medial |
| potato | po/ta/to | Long-O | final |
| prefix | pre/fix | Long-E | medial |
| program | pro/gram | Long-O | medial |
| puny | pu/ny | Long-U | medial |
| pupil | pu/pil | Long-U | medial |
| quiet | qui/et | Long-I | medial |
| radio | ra/dio | Long-A | medial |
| radio | ra/dio | Long-O | final |
| react | re/act | Long-E | medial |
| really | re/al/ly | Long-E | medial |
| recent | re/cent | Long-E | medial |
| recycle | re/cy/cle | Long-E | medial |
| relation | re/la/tion | Long-A | medial |
| rifle | ri/fle | Long-I | medial |
| Roman | Ro/man | Long-O | medial |
| secret | se/cret | Long-E | medial |
| she | she | Long-E | final |
| silent | si/lent | Long-I | medial |
| so | so | Long-O | final |
| spider | spi/der | Long-I | medial |
| station | sta/tion | Long-A | medial |
| table | ta/ble | Long-A | medial |
| tiny | ti/ny | Long-I | medial |
| title | ti/tle | Long-I | medial |
| tomato | to/ma/to | Long-A | medial |
| tomato | to/ma/to | Long-O | final |
| total | to/tal | Long-O | medial |
| triangle | tri/an/gle | Long-I | medial |
| uniform | uni/form | Long-U | initial |
| unify | uni/fy | Long-U | initial |
| unique | unique | Long-U | initial |
| unit | unit | Long-U | initial |
| united | united | Long-U | initial |
| universe | uni/verse | Long-U | initial |
| university | uni/ver/si/ty | Long-U | initial |
| unusual | un/usu/al | Long-U | medial |
| usual | usu/al | Long-U | initial |
| Utah | Utah | Long-U | initial |
| utilize | uti/lize | Long-U | initial |
| vacation | va/ca/tion | Long-A | medial |
| valuable | valu/able | Long-U | medial |
| vapor | va/por | Long-A | medial |
| variety | va/ri/e/ty | Long-I | medial |
| vibration | vi/bra/tion | Long-A | medial |
| vibration | vi/bra/tion | Long-I | medial |
| volcano | vol/ca/no | Long-A | medial |
| volcano | vol/ca/no | Long-O | final |
| we | we | Long-E | final |
| zebra | ze/bra | Long-E | medial |
| zero | ze/ro | Long-O | final |
Source: Fry, E.B., Ph.D. & Kress, J.E., Ed.D. (2006). The Reading
Teacher’s Book of Lists 5th Edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass
Excellent list. Saved me so much time trying to come up with a good list of words to use when teaching open syllables.
GN, London, Ontario, Canada
this helped me a lot.
Thank you