A syllable is a single, unbroken sound of a spoken (or written) word. Syllables usually contain a vowel and accompanying consonants.
The number of times you hear a vowel (a, e, i , o, u and sometimes y) in a word is equal to the number of syllables a word has. A good way to identify syllables is to think about whether you need to change your mouth shape to say the next bit of the word / the new syllable.
Cat one syllable (cat)
Water two syllables (wa / ter)
Computer three syllables (com / pu / ter)
Category four syllables (cat / e / gor / y)
University five syllables (u / ni / ver / si / ty)
Silent Syllable:
Some words in English pronunciation can lose a syllable when they are said quickly.
Silent syllables are common in words of three or more syllables where there is a weak vowel sound followed by one of /l/, /r/ or /n/.
In some cases, both pronunciations of these words are correct, though in connected speech, the silent syllable is more likely in most cases.
Chocolate (choc / late)
Family (fam / ly)
Average (av / rage)
Gardener (gard / ner)
Restaurant (rest / rant)
Temperature (tem / pra / ture)
Interesting (int / res / ting)
Literature (lit / ra / ture)
Frightening (fright / ning)
Different (diff / rent)
Comfortable (comf / table)