Word division in Bulgarian is not a trivial problem, and the same applies equally to English. When dividing words in English while writing, we need to know how to split them. There are three main ways to divide a word: a/ by syllables; b/ by structure; c/ by meaning.
And here are some basic rules:
1/ Never divide a syllable.
clear-ly; dear-ly; un- able; al- most
2/ Never divide two-syllable suffixes.
-able; ible; ably; worthy; logue
agree-able; re- spon-sible; suit-ably; trust-worthy; dia-logue
3/ Never carry over an ending or suffix of two letters to the next line, such as:
magi-cal; Mexi-can; con- fessed; doc-tor; ro-man-tic
4/ Never divide off a single letter.
5/ The letter h in the letter combinations ch, tch, sh, ph, th is an inseparable part; each of these combinations represents one sound. This also includes the digraph gh, which is not pronounced.
os-trich; wash-ing; soph- is-ti-cated
6/ Never divide one-syllable words. Words such as:
Cut, kind, flower, night, bread, house
7/ Never divide a word that has fewer than 5 letters.
8/ When dividing compound words, the second and third components are always carried over to the new line, regardless of whether the word is written as one word a/ or with a hyphen b/
a/ micro-scope; some-thing; under-go
b/ good-natured; absent- minded; house-work; forget- me- not
And what is best – in some English-English dictionaries, possible division points are marked with a dot. 🙂
More articles on English grammar
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