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One Syllable Answers

For each category, name the possible answers that are only one syllable.
Note: This quiz uses English language pronunciation
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 25, 2019
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First submittedSeptember 25, 2014
Times taken46,964
Average score43.9%
Rating4.34
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Books of the Bible
Acts
James
Job
Joel
John
Jude
Kings
Luke
Mark
Psalms
Ruth
World Capitals
Bern
Minsk
Prague
Rome
Seoul
 
Countries
Chad
France
Greece
Laos
Spain
Periodic Table
Elements
Gold
Lead
Tin
Zinc
 
Planets
Earth
Mars
U.S. Presidents
(Last Name)
Bush
Ford
Grant
Hayes
Pierce
Polk
Taft
Trump
U.S. States
Maine
 
UK Cities
Bath
(Hull, Kingston upon)
Leeds
Perth
(Stoke-on-Trent)
Wells
York
+1
Level 51
Dec 7, 2014
I can't believe i didn't get my own first name (which, in all seriousness, is the second-least guessed answer but still)
+16
Level 63
Dec 6, 2016
Your name is Perth? That's unusual.
+2
Level 50
Dec 7, 2014
Only issue I had was with Joel. Is it one syllable or two? Jo-el?
+3
Level 76
Dec 9, 2014
My son's name is Joel, rhymes with roll. That's the only way I've ever heard it pronounced in English.
+2
Level 80
Dec 6, 2016
I've only heard it pronounced as Jo-ell or Jo-all. Maybe it's a UK/US thing?
+1
Level 71
Dec 6, 2016
Joel is one syllable, Noel is two. Confusing, sure, but that's just the way it works.
+2
Level 75
Dec 6, 2016
I have cousins named Noel and Joel and both are pronounced as one syllable, but when using Noel as another word for Christmas it has two syllables.
+1
Level 83
Jan 22, 2017
^ Noel only has 2 syllables, I think, when it has an umlaut over the "e".
+2
Level 77
Jan 23, 2017
I guess I'm the weird. I've always pronounced the name Joel as two syllables. Jo-uhl.
+2
Level 60
Oct 17, 2021
The name is Hebrew in the Bible and it's 'Jo-El'. It's Jo-el in English too. Your family is pronouncing it quickly, but they're wrong.
+2
Level 75
Aug 11, 2019
I'm American, and I've always pronounced it with two syllables. I've only heard Billy Joel's last name pronounced with two syllables.
+2
Level 74
Aug 13, 2019
Me, too. I find it weird that this is even a debate. A quick internet search suggests that most dictionaries show it as two syllables, while most people seem to say it as one. Very odd. I always think of it as two, just said rather quickly. One syllable sounds very weird to my ear. I work with a Joel, who is Latino, and he pronounces it as two syllables, but with a "y" sound: Yo-El.
+1
Level 88
Nov 28, 2019
It's often pronounced quickly but there's almost always a minor shift in the syllable before the L, even if a slight, barely aspirated W sound. People may never say Jo-ell like they do the Christmas Noel, but a flat Jole like role would sound like someone just kidding around.
+1
Level 56
Aug 17, 2020
I've always heard it to rhyme with "roll". "Jo-elle" sounds like a girl's name (and it is, in French).
+1
Level 60
Oct 17, 2021
No. It's Hebrew and it's Yo-Ayl, which is Anglicised to 'Jo-El'. The emphasis is on the 'Jo', not the 'El'. 'JO-el' as in NO-ah.
+3
Level 77
Oct 17, 2021
Billy Joel pronounces his own last name with one syllable.
+3
Level 75
Jul 9, 2015
I really enjoy these types of quizzes. Thanks.
+2
Level 72
Aug 8, 2015
Good quiz. Made me really have to think.
+2
Level 47
Dec 22, 2015
this quiz really made me think and i really enjoyed it.
+2
Level 66
Feb 13, 2016
I got Chad, because of the picture, and I got Laos, because it has 4 letters in the name
+5
Level 44
Sep 21, 2016
Is Kiev two syllables? I guess I pronounce it wrong...
+1
Level 42
Dec 6, 2016
I tried the same thing!
+3
Level 51
Jun 27, 2018
Kee-ev...of course it's two syllables, how else would u pronounce it?
+6
Level 73
Aug 11, 2019
Everyone I know who has been there pronounces it with one syllable--" keev."
+4
Level 76
Nov 25, 2019
Kiev is one syllable, and therefore should be on the list, even though some people mispronounce it with two syllables.
+2
Level 44
Nov 25, 2019
Kiev in Ukrainian is pronounced as Kyiv, and therefore romanised as Kiyev in pronounciation, or Kiev in English spelling.
+1
Level 56
Aug 17, 2020
I've found a whole news report about the name of Kiev!

Er, sorry, Kyiv.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8kkbc2pK6M

Sounds like two syllables to me.

+1
Level 37
Feb 27, 2022
I knew the Kiev vs Kyiv debate would show up here
+1
Level 45
Jan 30, 2023
At the start of the invasion I think the bbc etc officially changed all reports to include Kyiv, pronounced “keev” or sometimes “kee-iv”. But that’s probably a new thing due to more attention on Ukraine than usual, and most of these comments are from before feb22
+3
Level 23
Oct 31, 2016
laos is definitely 1 syllable it rhymes with mouse and house it is not pronounced lay-os idk what people are talking about.
+1
Level 64
Dec 16, 2022
It doesn't rhyme with 'mouse'; it rhymes with 'brow'. Definitely one syllable, but the S is silent.
+5
Level 65
Dec 6, 2016
Unfortunately, you're gonna need to add another name to the US Presidents category...
+8
Level 73
Dec 6, 2016
We must enjoy the last month we don't have to see the godforsaken blemish all over Jetpunk quizzes.
+1
Level 59
Dec 6, 2016
Not an easy quiz, only got 26.
+2
Level 67
Dec 6, 2016
Gonna need to add Trump soon! :O
+1
Level 84
Dec 6, 2016
I got almost everything... but none of the UK cities. If it's not London, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Nottingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff, or Belfast, there's really no reason for a North American to have heard of it.
+14
Level 80
Dec 6, 2016
Really? Bath has a huge American tourist influx, as does York... and the latter did happen to influence the name of one US city - "New York"!
+10
Level 84
Dec 7, 2016
Oh please. "There's really no reason for a North American to have heard of it"? As an American, it's really ok, and dare I say useful, to learn about cities in the UK (or anywhere) other than major ones. Do you think people get an accurate understanding of the USA if all they know about are things in NYC, LA, Chicago, and Miami?
+3
Level 75
Nov 26, 2019
I'm American and I knew them all except Wells, even though I somehow missed seeing the last blank, so I missed York, too. Never heard of Wells,tbough. I've heard of Tunbridge Wells, but not just Wells.
+4
Level 56
Aug 17, 2020
To be fair that's how I felt about the American presidents... although I did get Maine, which I was quite pleased with.
+2
Level 34
Dec 6, 2016
I don't consider Acts to be the proper name of the book, It's technically Acts of the Apostles
+1
Level 82
Nov 25, 2019
Not as satisfying as the sequel: Chainsaw of the Apostates
+1
Level 46
Dec 6, 2016
Us presidents last names,PIE -RCE?Also add trump
+2
Level 63
Dec 6, 2016
I also pronounce it 'Pee - erce'. I cant imagine it being said 'peers'
+4
Level 84
Dec 7, 2016
-RCE is not a syllable.
+1
Level 82
Nov 25, 2019
Pee urse? wth
+2
Level 60
Dec 6, 2016
So, Trump isn't one syllable? Because it should be added.
+5
Level 82
Dec 6, 2016
Hopefully the world will end before this happens, but, it is currently inconsistent with many other presidential quizzes on the site.
+1
Level 52
Dec 6, 2016
Trump isn't president until January though, right?
+2
Level 47
Dec 6, 2016
what about TRUMP!
+1
Level 47
Dec 6, 2016
i have literally no idea
+9
Level 92
Dec 6, 2016
Please refrain from adding Trump until he is sworn in on Jan. 20 to allow all the little snowflakes more time to seek safe places and mourn. Jeez, can't even take a trivia quiz without the wailing and whining.
+3
Level 89
Dec 6, 2016
Trump isn't technically president YET. I know some president quizzes have already added him, but they really shouldn't. Wait till it's officially official.
+1
Level 77
Jan 20, 2017
For some reason I feel it should said Bush twice. Both were often enough referred to just as "George Bush". Or "President Bush". Not sure I ever heard "President Bush Junior".
+1
Level 75
Sep 18, 2019
Maybe JP considers one to be Bush and the other to be Dub-ya
+2
Level 75
Nov 26, 2019
Then there would have to be four Johns and two Kings on the bible books sections. I think it gets the meaning across fine as it is.
+1
Level 66
Jan 30, 2017
What about Lome?
+1
Level 81
Apr 26, 2018
I've always pronounced it Lo - me, or low may. But I have no authority for this, maybe it is pronounced like loam?

I think you have something here. I just checked two sources that pronounce it as one syllable, like Rome. Although there is an accent over the "e", both videos pronounced it with one syllable.

+4
Level 86
Jun 3, 2018
Not sure what videos you're referencing, but the accent should mean it's pronounced as two syllables. Same deal with Male (capital of the Maldives). Though that didn't stop me from trying it in desperation lol.
+2
Level 52
Feb 17, 2017
I got all the countries except Spain and France...
+2
Level 37
Dec 2, 2018
Lome , Joel and Noel are pronounced as two syllables if pronounced correctly (non-American pronunciations). Laos is one syllable because the "s" is silent, as in Marseilles.
+2
Level 74
Nov 25, 2019
So it's pronounced Mar-ay then :-)? Seriously, how does the presence of an s sound influence the number of syllables - it would just make it "louse" if it weren't silent, surely?
+1
Level 77
Oct 17, 2021
Yes, I think your logic fails a bit in the way ChipOtley pointed out. The "s" being silent doesn't at all affect the syllable count.
+1
Level 72
Jan 19, 2019
What about Kiev?
+1
Level 75
Sep 25, 2019
It is pronounced Key-ev
+3
Level 76
Nov 25, 2019
It's correctly pronounced as one syllable
+13
Level 75
Aug 12, 2019
I don't understand why Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is missing.
+6
Level 67
Nov 25, 2019
Must have something to do with the accent where QM lives.
+1
Level 60
Nov 25, 2019
Neither in English nor in Hebrew is JOEL pronounced as one syllable. It's two, and that several people here actually attest that their children are named Joel with one syllable is ASTOUNDING. Can you do that? Is it even possible? Crazy, crazy.
+1
Level 68
Nov 25, 2019
I know people named Joel, pronounced "Jole". Those crazy people who live in Nu Zild.
+6
Level 88
Nov 25, 2019
@Marvo In my experience as a speaker of English in the USA, Joel is indeed pronounced as a single syllable. I'm curious as to where you are from that you think it is such an outrageous notion.
+2
Level 72
Nov 25, 2019
^^ Agreed, I've heard of a girl's name "Joelle" pronounced as two syllables but never the boys name "Joel"
+1
Level 77
Oct 17, 2021
I think the English diphthong is a major reason why people might think that Billy Joel's last name is two syllables. I'm pretty sure the bible has Jo-El, said "Joe Elle". However, Billy Joel's name has a one-syllable diphthong. That's where two vowel sounds are jammed together to make one syllable. It's like oil. You could say oil is two syllables, "oy yull", but you'd be wrong. It's a diphthong!
+2
Level 82
Nov 25, 2019
What about Kiev/Kyiv? Now that the impeachment proceedings in the House have popularized the common Ukrainian monosyllabic pronunciation (KEEV), as opposed to the more common Western (key-EV) (mis?)pronunciation, does it not belong?
+2
Level 44
Nov 25, 2019
I don't know if it's Western or just an English thing. In French, it has always been pronounced with one syllable, as it's written
+1
Level 82
Oct 18, 2021
In English, pronunciation of words and letters is far from uniform so it's always difficult to say how a word is pronounced unless you hear it; even then, pronunciations vary over time, and from place to place, and even from person to person. And there's no English equivalent of the Académie Française, so it's really just a crapshoot.

NY Times article on the controversy. Not even sure where I come down on this myself. 2-syllables seems to remain the more popular pronunciation among English-speakers.

+6
Level 62
Nov 25, 2019
How am I supposed to know obscure countries like "France" and "Spain"??? This quiz is rigged.
+2
Level 74
Nov 25, 2019
Far too Euro-centric - just look at those capitals too!
+1
Level 67
Oct 17, 2021
I feel so dumb for forgetting France.
+1
Level 49
Nov 25, 2019
You forgot Nuuk as a capital of Greenland
+4
Level 72
Nov 25, 2019
Technically not considered a national capital as Greenland is considered part of Denmark.
+3
Level 79
Nov 26, 2019
I had no knowledge of any 'books of the Bible' but still got two by guessing last names of U.S. Presidents (James and John).
+1
Level 78
May 19, 2021
Great idea for a quiz. It really taxes the brain. I got 33/41 with some Bible guesswork and was guided by the alphabetical order of the answers.
+2
Level 76
Oct 17, 2021
not sure this comment section needs another debate but i would posit that ‘Sucre’ is only one syllable, at least in french pronunciation - but i’m sure someone will tell me i’m wrong, however. either way, it’s worth considering adding it
+1
Level 82
Oct 17, 2021
In Spanish (I know it says English pronounciation, but English borrows Spanish for this) it would be prnounced with two syllables: soo-kreh
+1
Level 85
Oct 17, 2021
Kyiv is one syllable
+1
Level 82
Oct 18, 2021
Except when it's not.
+3
Level 82
Oct 17, 2021
Just to add to the contested ones: Seoul is actually two syllables (it's pronounced something like "Suh-ool"). Korean is one syllable per hanja "character" (not really characters, but I don't have a better word) and there are two in Seoul.
+2
Level 77
Oct 17, 2021
The common English pronunciation of Seoul is the same as the word "soul". It's one syllable. Now, if we all get together and point out how stupid it is that European countries during the Colonial and Imperial Age decided to just call places whatever stupid, lazy, incorrect thing they wanted, I'm all for that. But then you'd have to argue against Finland and call it Suomi instead and a whole bunch of other things. This is like the Metric system in the US. It'd be better to change away from an arbitrarily stupid system, but the change is impossible! Impossible I say! So just say the capital of South Korea sounds like sole.
+2
Level 64
Dec 16, 2022
To be fair, it's not that different in Korean. Yes, it's definitely two syllables in writing, seo-ul, but in speech Koreans tend to reduce it down to a single syllable as well.
+1
Level 44
Oct 17, 2021
Laos for countries, but not Leicester [LESTER] for UK cities?
+4
Level 67
Oct 18, 2021
Not sure how you're meant to say LESTER in one syllable, chief.
+2
Level 73
Oct 19, 2021
Slough?
+1
Level 75
Oct 19, 2021
not a city, thankfully!
+1
Level 75
Oct 19, 2021
LA-OS is surely 2 syllables, at least that is how I have always said it!
+2
Level 77
Nov 3, 2021
You've always said it with an extra syllable. Say the word "allow". Now don't say the "ah" sound at the beginning. That is how you pronounce Laos.
+1
Level 78
Feb 13, 2024
Louse.
+1
Level 73
Mar 7, 2023
Nice quiz, and it was harder than I expected. I scored 25/41. Thanks for the quiz!
+1
Level 64
Mar 9, 2023
I forgot Earth. And I live there! 🤣🤣🤣
+1
Level 56
Nov 30, 2023
proper pronunciation of Kiev is one syllable!
+1
Level 67
Mar 20, 2024
Kyiv is 1 syllable