Dividing Between Two Consonants (VC/CV)

Split words between two consonants that sit between two vowels.

When two consonants stand between two vowels, the usual move is to divide between the consonants. This pattern is written VC/CV. To use it, mark the vowels, look at the consonants between them, and draw your line in the middle. Try 'admit'. The vowels are a and i. Between them are d and m. Divide ad-mit. Both syllables are now closed, so both vowels are short.

It works whether the consonants are the same letter, as in 'rab-bit' and 'hap-pen', or different letters, as in 'nap-kin' and 'win-ter'. This is the most reliable division rule, so try it first whenever you see two consonants between vowels.

• 1Mark the vowels, then look at the consonants between them.
• 2Two consonants between vowels: split between them.
• 3Double letters split too: rab-bit, hap-pen.