Each metric unit, or foot, in iambic meter is known as the iamb. An iambic foot is composed of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable.
Iambic feet can be strung along in a series. Four feet together is known as iambic tetrameter, as in the example "He works on writing Monday nights," which contains four stressed syllables: "works," "writ-," "Mon-" and "nights." The other four syllables are unstressed.
Iambic pentameter (five iambic feet per line) that does not rhyme is also known as blank verse. Shakespeare wrote much of his work in iambic pentameter.
Trochees are the inverse of iambs, with a stressed syllable, then an unstressed syllable. Anapests have groups of three syllables in the following pattern: unstressed, unstressed, stressed. Dactyls also have groups of three syllables: stressed, unstressed, unstressed.
Determining the metric pattern of a line of poetry by identifying the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables and counting the total number of feet is known as scanning.