Syllable Counter

In short A syllable counter applies English pronunciation rules to written words: count the vowel groups, subtract a silent final E, add one back for a word ending in -le after a consonant, and never return less than one. That gets most words right and it is not a dictionary, which is the honest limit. "Business" is two syllables and looks like three; "every" is usually two despite three vowel groups; "fire" is one for some speakers and two for others, and no rule can settle a question the speakers themselves disagree on. Treat the count as a strong guide rather than an answer. Where it earns its place is in forms with a fixed count. A haiku wants five, seven and five; song lyrics need a line to fit an existing melody; and metrical poetry lives or dies on the count per line. It is also the input to every readability formula worth using — Flesch Reading Ease and the Flesch-Kincaid grade are both built on syllables per word, which is why a text full of long Latinate words scores badly even when the sentences are short.