What context can I use each word in?
Learn when and how to use these words with these examples!
syllabify
Example
Can you syllabify the word 'banana' for me? [syllabify: verb]
Example
She struggled to syllabify the complex medical terms. [syllabifying: gerund or present participle]
segment
Example
Linguists often segment words into phonemes to study their sound patterns. [segment: verb]
Example
The teacher asked the students to segment the word 'unbelievable' into its morphemes. [segmenting: gerund or present participle]
Good things to know
Which word is more common?
Syllabify is more commonly used in language teaching and learning, while segment is more commonly used in linguistic research and analysis.
Whatโs the difference in the tone of formality between syllabify and segment?
Both syllabify and segment are formal terms used in linguistics and language teaching, but segment may be considered more technical and specialized than syllabify.
