Silent Letters in English -Explore More and Learn

Silent Letters in English

Silent letters in English are the letters which are not pronounced sometimes in some words.The letter which is silent in some words, is not necessary will always be silent in all the words. Therefore, silent letters create a kind of confusion about their pronunciation.They are written in the words but they are not spoken. Now the confusion arises when should they be pronounced and when not? Just to overcome such kind of confusion,I am explaining some rules for silent letters in detail with examples for your better understanding.

Silent letter ‘A’

Letter ‘a’ is silent in the words
ending with ‘ally’

•Romantically

•Musically

•Logically

Silent Letter ‘B’:

Letter ‘b’ is not pronounced after ‘m’ at the end of a word.

•Limb /Lim/

•Comb / Com/

•Bomb /Bom/

•Thumb /Thum/

•Dumb /dum/

•Climb /clim/

•Letter ‘b’ is usually not pronounced before ‘t’ at the end of the root word.

e.g. •Debt /det/

•Doubt /dout/

•Subtle /sutl/

Silent Letter ‘C’ :

‘C’ is not pronounced in the combination of ‘sc’ e.g.

•Muscles •Scissors •Ascent •Scenario •Miscellaneous

Silent LetterD :

•Handkerchief

•Wednesday

•Sandwich

•Handsome

Silent letter E :

Letter ‘E’ is not pronounced at the end of the word but the vowel sound used before ‘e’ becomes longer.

Hide        hid
Site          sit
Bite          bit
Hope       hop Exception-Minute

Silent Letter ‘G’ :

Letter ‘G’ is not pronounced often when it comes before ‘N’

•Foreign •Sign •Design •Align •Champagne

Exceptions- Magnet, Signature, Cognitive

Silent Letter ‘GH’ :

‘GH’ is not pronounced when it comes
after a vowel

•Thought

•Brought

•Daughter

•Light

•Weigh

•Weight

Silent Letter ‘H’ :

Letter ‘h’ is silent often after ‘c , g , r ’ •Chorus •Choir •Echo •Rhythm •Ghost

Silent Letter ‘K’ :

Letter ‘K’ is not pronounced when it comes before ‘N’ at the beginning of a word. For example

•Knowledge •Knife •Knock •Knee •Knot •Knit

Silent Letter ‘L’ :

‘L’ is silent in the following words.

•Calm •Walk •Half •Would •Chalk •Talk •Should •Could •Folk •Calf

Silent Letter ‘N’ :

Letter ‘N’ is not pronounced when it comes after ‘M’ at the end of the word. For example

Autumn Hymn Column Solemn

Silent Letter ‘P’ :

‘P’ is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the combination of ‘PS’ or ‘PN’. For example

Psychiatrist

Pneumonia

Psychologist

Pseudonym

Silent Letter ‘R’ :

Letter ‘R’ is pronounced very raerly in English but it plays very important role for correct pronunciation in English.

*R is pronounced only when it appears before a vowel sound.
e.g.
Respect,
Round,
Rice,
Revise

*R is always silent when it appears after a vowel sound or before a consonant sound. For example

Sir , Car , Bird , Near , Your , Mother , Are , Where , Reserve , Bear

Letter ‘R’ will silent in all the above words when it is appearing after a vowel sound. Underlined letter ‘r’ will be silent.

Silent Letter ‘T’ :

Letter ‘T’ is silent in the following words.

•Castle •Often •Listen •Hasten •Whistle •Ballet •Soften •Rapport •Christmas.

This was all about silent letters in English. You can understand silent letters’ pronunciation better by watching the videos below.

Silent Letters in English