Syllables (Monosyllables) 01

Monosyllables are words which make a single beat. As we've seen in the Syllables (counting) quiz, words can be broken down into syllables. Some words contain only one syllable and these are monosyllabic words. "It", "cat" and "and" are all monosyllabic.

What would it be like if we wrote in words with one beat all the time and did not choose words with two beats or more? How long would it take you to see that these were the sole type of word you read? Would you see this at once or when some time had gone by? The words would sound like chop chop chop and so on and so on.

Did you notice that the last four sentences were written only in monosyllables? Anything written in this way becomes repetitive and monotonous very quickly. Just as it is important to vary your vocabulary and the lengths of your sentences, it is also important to vary the rhythm of your writing, too, by using words with different numbers of syllables.

Take this quiz to see how well you can spot monosyllabic words.