How many syllables in “softly”?
“softly” has 2 syllables: soft·ly
IPA
/ˈsɔft.li/
Stress
SOFT-ly (pattern 1-0)
Division
soft·ly
Pronunciation
| Say it like | IPA | Syllables | Count | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SOFT-ly | /ˈsɔft.li/ | s ao f t · l iy | 2 | 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 (2)
soft·ly
Morphemes (2)
soft + -ly
The syllable breaks of softly (soft·ly) line up with its morphemes (soft + -ly): 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
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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 "softly"?
"softly" has two syllables: soft·ly.
How do you divide "softly" into syllables?
soft·ly. The syllable breaks of softly (soft·ly) line up with its morphemes (soft + -ly): 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.