Forum Discussion
Delete cells with exactly three syllables
If you had been intending to identify word length in syllables, you would need a pronunciation source, such as most dictionaries. The Gutenberg Project offers (for free) this old-but-undated Webster's Unabridged Dictionary that could be used for that; the extraction of words and their syllable counts would include significant VBA coding. But the derived word forms (noun plurals, verb tenses, etc.) would be incomplete, and as this is an old work, some word spellings have changed, some pronunciations have changed, and other words were then not yet in use.
Identifying the number of consonants is more straightforward, but the sometimes-vowels Y and W cause a problem. See the attached workbook for more information and a partial solution. The count of consonants can mostly be done with formulas (I used helper columns). But to "delete" words requires a script; I include VBA code for that in the workbook. (The workbook is not macro-enabled; I will assume that you know how to create and edit macros.)
Edit: The forum software again loses a file that I attached (but it was not the one I intended anyway). Trying again...
Edit #2: Well that failed also. So access the workbook on OneDrive: 2025-10-02 RAHI words containing 3 consonants.xlsx
OK, so now we're getting quite a bit closer to a clear (and thereby workable) definition. A question, do you actually want to delete the row in which the "offending cell" resides, or are you OK with blank cells where there once were words with three consonants?
If it's either of those, doing so would require a macro or VBA, and I personally work with neither method.
An alternative, if it's acceptable, is to create a "results column" into which you use a formula to copy the cells from the source column, with blanks for those cells that contained your three consonants.
I'll give some thought, time permitting, to how I'd write a formula to take out three consonant words -- but I'm quite sure that one or two others who've commented may be able to produce such a formula off the top of their heads. I'd like to learn, and this is an opportunity, but it'll take some time. You can help us all by clarifying along the lines of my questions in the first three paragraphs.
For now, I'm happy to have contributed to getting us a clearer definition of the task, a necessary first step on all occasions.
A results column is perfectly fine, as well as leaving the cells blank. I hope this answers your question.