What is a silent letter?

A silent letter is the letter in words that are not pronounced but make a huge difference to the meaning and pronunciation
of the whole word. Looking back to the history of the language, these letters were pronounced initially, and then they
became silent. There are a lot of silent letters in English, it’s said that around 60 % of words in English have silent letters.
This makes spelling and pronunciation more difficult for learners. Below we will look at some silent letter rules that will help
you recognize when certain letters are to be silent.
There are some rules that explain which letters are supposed to be silent, before and after certain letters (the only issue
about this is that, like all English rules – there are usually some exceptions!). once you start practicing these rules and using
with new vocabulary that you learn, it will become easier to remember silent letters in English.
Silent B Silent GH Silent N
Rule 1: The letter B is usually not Rule 1: GH is not pronounced when it Rule: The letter N is not pronounced
pronounced after M at the end of a comes after a vowel in a word. when it comes after M at the end of a
word. • High, light, thought, through alight. word.
• Comb, bomb, thumb, climb, tomb, Rules 2: Exceptions: GH is pronounced • Column, damn, solemn, autumn.
crumb, lamb separately in compound words (As you Silent P
Rule 2: B is usually not pronounced can see in the following words that Rule: The letter P is not pronounced at
before the letter T. exceptions are generally compound the he beginning of many words using
• Doubt, doubtful, subtle, debt. words). the combinations PS, PT and PN.
Silent C • Doghouse, bighead, foghorn. • Psalm, psephology, pterodactyl,
Rule 1: The letter C is usually not Rule 3: Except examples from rule 1, GH pneumonia, pneumatic.
pronounced in the combination of SC. is sometimes pronounced like F, Silent PH
• Scissors, ascent, fascinate, muscle. consider the words below. Rule: PH is sometimes pronounced like
Rule 2: C is usually mute before the • Draught, cough, laugh, tough. F.
letters K and Q. Silent H • Sophia, paragraph, elephant,
• Lock, block, puck, acknowledge. Rule 1: The letter H is usually silent telephone.
• Aqua, Acquit, Acquiesce. when it appears after W. Silent S
Silent D • Why, what, when, weather, where. Rule: The letter S is not pronounced
Rule 1: The letter D is silent when it Rule 2: Sometimes the letter H is not before L in the following words:
appears before the letters N and G. silent after W, consider the words • Aisle, island, isle, islet.
• Wednesday, cadge, Pledge, grudge. below. Pronunciation of Reductions
Rule 2: D is not pronounced in the • Whose, whosoever, who, whoever, Silent T
following Common words: whole. Rule: The letter T is not pronounced in
• Wednesday, handsome, handkerchief, Rule 3: H is mute at the beginning of the following common English words:
sandwich. many words (remember to use the • Castle, Christmas, fasten, listen, often,
Silent E article “an” with unvoiced H). beret, Chevrolet, whistle, thistle, bustle,
Rule 1: If the letter E comes at the ends • Hour, honest, honour, heir. hasten, soften, rapport, gourmet, ballet.
of words, it is generally not Rule 4: Exceptions: Most of the words (Please click here to know how to
pronounced. beginning with H are not silent pronounce T in English).
• Fore, table, before, write, give, hide. (remember to use the article “a” with Silent U
Rule 2: If E occurs before the letter D in voiced H) Rule: The letter U is not pronounced
the second and third form of the verbs, • History, Historical, Hair, Happy. when it comes after G and before a
E may sometimes not to be Silent K vowel in a word.
pronounced. Rule: The letter K is always silent when • Guide, guest, guard, guess, guano.
• Bored, fixed, smuggled, begged. it precedes the letter N in a word. Silent W
Silent G • Know, knock, knife, knight, Rule 1: The letter W is not pronounced
Rule 1: The G letter is not pronounced knowledge. at the beginning of a word when it is
when it comes before N in a word. Silent L before the letter R.
• Design, foreign, sign, gnash, align. Rule: The letter L is usually not • Write, wrest, wrong, wrack, wrap.
Exceptions: Magnet, igneous, cognitive, pronounced after the vowels: A, O and Rule 2: W is silent in the following
signature U. words:
• Calf, half, palm, would, should, could, • Who, whose, whole, whom, whole,
folk, yolk. whoever, answer, sword, two.