Which syllable type ends in a vowel and typically has a long vowel sound?

• A. Closed
• B. Open
• C. Vowel team
• D. Silent e

Answer: (B)

Open syllables end in a vowel with nothing after it, so the vowel usually says its name and has a long sound. When the syllable isn’t closed by a consonant, the voice stays on the vowel longer, giving that long pronunciation. Think of words like go, me, no, or so—the single syllable ends with a vowel and the vowel sounds long.

This pattern doesn’t apply to syllables that close with a consonant, where the vowel tends to be short (as in cat or sit). It also isn’t about two vowels together forming one sound (that’s a vowel team), and it isn’t about a final e that’s silent and changes the previous vowel’s sound (that’s the silent-e pattern). So the description matches the open syllable best.