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Silent Letters

This document outlines many rules for silent letters in the English language. It discusses silent letters such as B, C, D, E, G, GH, H, K, L, N, P, PH, S, T, U, and W. For each letter, it provides one or two rules describing words in which that letter is typically silent, along with examples. There are often exceptions to these rules. The document serves as a guide to help identify and understand words containing silent letters in English.

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Lizzy Ramirez
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282 views22 pages

Silent Letters

This document outlines many rules for silent letters in the English language. It discusses silent letters such as B, C, D, E, G, GH, H, K, L, N, P, PH, S, T, U, and W. For each letter, it provides one or two rules describing words in which that letter is typically silent, along with examples. There are often exceptions to these rules. The document serves as a guide to help identify and understand words containing silent letters in English.

Uploaded by

Lizzy Ramirez
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Rules of

silent
letters Mrs Ana Yolani Mejía
11 AEB
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.

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!)


Silent B
Rule 1: The letter B is usually not pronounced after M at the end of a word.

• Comb, bomb, thumb, climb, tomb, crumb, lamb

Rule 2: B is usually not pronounced before the letter T.

• Doubt, doubtful, subtle, debt.


Silent C
Rule 1: The letter C is usually not pronounced in the combination of SC.

• Scissors, ascent, fascinate, muscle.

Rule 2: C is usually mute before the letters K and Q.

• Lock, block, puck, acknowledge.

• Aqua, Acquit, Acquiesce.


Silent D
Rule 1: The letter D is silent when it appears before the letters N and G.

• Wednesday, cadge, Pledge, grudge.

Rule 2: D is not pronounced in the following Common words:

• Wednesday, handsome, handkerchief, sandwich.


Silent E
Rule 1: If the letter E comes at the ends of words, it is generally not pronounced.

• Fore, table, before, write, give, hide.

Rule 2: If E occurs before the letter D in the second and third form of the

verbs, E may sometimes not to be pronounced.

• Bored, fixed, smuggled, begged.


Silent G

Rule 1: The G letter is not pronounced when it comes before N in a word.

• Design, foreign, sign, gnash, align.

Exceptions: Magnet, igneous, cognitive, signature


Silent GH
Rule 1: GH is not pronounced when it comes after a vowel in a word.

• High, light, thought, through alight.

Rules 2: Exceptions: GH is pronounced separately in compound words (

As you can see in the following words that exceptions are generally

compound words). • Doghouse, bighead, foghorn.


Silent GH
Rule 3: Except examples from rule 1, GH is sometimes pronounced

like F, consider the words below.

• Draught, cough, laugh, tough.


Silent H
Rule 1: The letter H is usually silent when it appears after W.

• Why, what, when, weather, where.

Rule 2: Sometimes the letter H is not silent after W, consider the words

below.

• Whose, whosoever, who, whoever, whole.


Silent H
Rule 3: H is mute at the beginning of many words (remember to use the

article “an” with unvoiced H).

• Hour, honest, honour, heir.

Rule 4: Exceptions: Most of the words beginning with H are not silent

(remember to use the article “a” with voiced H)

• History, Historical, Hair, Happy.


Silent K
Rule: The letter K is always silent when it precedes the letter N in a word.

• Know, knock, knife, knight, knowledge.


Silent L

Rule: The letter L is usually not pronounced after the vowels: A, O and U.

• Calf, half, palm, would, should, could, folk, yolk.


Silent N

Rule: The letter N is not pronounced when it comes after M at the end of a

word.

• Column, damn, solemn, autumn.


Silent P

Rule: The letter P is not pronounced at the he beginning of many words

using the combinations PS, PT and PN.

• Psalm, psephology, pterodactyl, pneumonia, pneumatic.


Silent PH

Rule: PH is sometimes pronounced like F.

• Sophia, paragraph, elephant, telephone.


Silent S

Rule: The letter S is not pronounced before L in the following words:

• Aisle, island, isle, islet.


Silent T

The letter T is not pronounced in the following common English words:

• Castle, Christmas, fasten, listen, often, beret, Chevrolet, whistle, thistle,

bustle, hasten, soften, rapport, gourmet, ballet.


Silent U

Rule: The letter U is not pronounced when it comes after G and before a

vowel in a word.

• Guide, guest, guard, guess,


Silent W

Rule 1: The letter W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word when it is

before the letter R.

• Write, wrest, wrong, wrack, wrap.


Silent W

Rule 2: W is silent in the following words:

• Who, whose, whole, whom, whole, whoever, answer, sword, two.

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