 Ever wondered what iambic pentameter means? Let me show you the easiest way to spot it. When it comes to iambic pentameter, it's one line of writing made up of ten syllables. The first syllable is unstressed, meaning it takes a short time to pronounce. The second syllable is stressed, meaning it takes just a bit longer to pronounce. This happens five times in one line of writing. An example of this is when Macbeth says, So is the unstressed syllable. Foul is the stressed syllable. And is unstressed. Fair is stressed. A is unstressed. Day is stressed. I is unstressed. Have is stressed. Not is unstressed. Scene is stressed. Count them all when you have one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Ten syllables. Each stress and unstressed syllable goes in a pair which you call a metric foot. And in iambic pentameter there's five metric feet in total.