What is a closed syllable?

A closed syllable is a syllable that ends in a consonant. Closed syllables may appear in monosyllabic words, such as "can," "am," "sit," "men" or "theft."

They are also present in multi-syllabic words that follow the vowel-consonant-consonant-vowel pattern, which can have two or more closed syllables. Some examples of such words include "absent," "river," "planet" and "cover."

An open syllable is a syllable that ends in a vowel with nothing closing it in, such as the syllables in the words "he," "me" and she." Some words have both an open and a closed syllable, such as "recent," "began" and "student."