How many syllables in “government”?
“government” has 3 syllables: gov·ern·ment
IPA
/ˈɡʌv.ɚ.mənt/
Stress
GOV-ern-ment (pattern 1-0-0)
Division
gov·ern·ment
Pronunciation
| Say it like | IPA | Syllables | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GOV-ern-ment | /ˈɡʌv.ɚ.mənt/ | g ah v · er · m ah n t | 3 | CMU dictionary |
Syllables are shown in ARPAbet (the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary's phoneme alphabet). Respellings put the stressed syllable in capitals.
Syllables vs. morphemes
Syllables (3)
gov·ern·ment
Morphemes (2)
govern + -ment
The syllable breaks of government (gov·ern·ment) line up with its morphemes (govern + -ment): every morpheme boundary is also a syllable boundary, so the word divides the same way for a syllable count and for a morphology exercise.
Count syllables in your own text
Paste a line or a whole poem: syllables, stress, IPA and meter, free and in your browser.
Open the syllable counter →Pronunciations from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Hyphenation from the hyph_en_US patterns.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many syllables are in "government"?
"government" has three syllables: gov·ern·ment.
How do you divide "government" into syllables?
gov·ern·ment. The syllable breaks of government (gov·ern·ment) line up with its morphemes (govern + -ment): every morpheme boundary is also a syllable boundary, so the word divides the same way for a syllable count and for a morphology exercise.
Is this syllable counter free?
Yes. The Fixie syllable counter is free, needs no signup, and runs in your browser; paste any text to count syllables, see stress and IPA.