Flex It: When to Divide After the Consonant (VC/V)

Switch to dividing after the single consonant when the long vowel does not make a real word.

Sometimes dividing before a single consonant gives you a word that does not exist. Then you flex: divide AFTER the consonant instead. This makes the first syllable closed, so the vowel is short. This pattern is VC/V. Try 'cabin'. First try ca-bin: 'KAY-bin'. That is not a word you know. Flex to cab-in: 'KAB-in'. That is a real word, so keep it.

Other VC/V words include 'lem-on', 'rob-in', and 'vis-it'. The thinking steps are: try open first, say it, ask 'Is that a word I know? ', and if not, try closed. Good readers flex quickly and check meaning against the sentence.

• 1If V/CV makes a nonsense word, flex to VC/V.
• 2VC/V makes the first syllable closed and short.
• 3Always check: is it a real word that fits the sentence?