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Syllable division, between two vowels

This is the most difficult syllable pattern, since usually when two vowels are together, they are in the same syllable. More difficult are those vowel pairs that often *do* go together, such as "ei" in "reinforce." A special category of "i-a" words is worth the practice, as so many students make errors such as "trail" for "trial."

Some of the reasons/patterns for a word splitting between vowels:

• prefixes that end in vowels such as re- and pre- and di-

• Roots like the Greek "bio"

• changing a y to an i and adding a suffix such as -er or -est (happiest, furious, funnier)

• any open syllable followed by a syllable that starts with a vowel

• endings like -ia in Australia, Liberia, wisteria, hysteria

• Hawai'ian words

Choose words which use only syllable patterns or categories which the student has mastered.

*of course, you should mention here that "bio" means "life"