Fun Easy English Classroom December 27
 
 
 
 

Classroom
Today


Learn about
silent letters
Pronunciation Silent Letters

Today in the classroom you are going to learn about silent letters, an important part of English pronunciation.
Hey if you cannot understand something on this page,
then use the Fun Easy English dictionary (opens in a new window)
Quick Links
Months Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec December
Dates 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31  
Pronunciation: Silent Letters
Hi. In the classroom today you will learn about silent letters.

What is a silent letter?

A silent letter is a letter in a word that is not pronounced or spoken.

When learning to pronounce English correctly, it is important to be able to recognize silent letters.

Which letter is silent in the word WRONG?

The answer is the letter W, which in the word WRONG, is silent or not pronounced.

Knowing which letters are silent in words will quickly improve your English pronunciation and your ability to speak English properly.

Until next time.
 
Pronunciation: List of English Words with Silent Letters
Note: the silent letters are colored in red
  • Silent A: A is skipped over and not pronounced
  • artistically, logically, musically, romantically, stoically
  • Silent B: B is not pronounced when following M at the end of a word and sometimes before t
  • climb, comb, crumb, debt, doubt, dumb, numb, subtle, thumb, tomb
  • Silent C: C is not pronounced in the following words
  • acquire, muscle, scissors
  • Silent D: D is not pronounced in the following common words
  • bridge, edge, handkerchief, handsome, sandwich, Wednesday
  • Silent E: E is not pronounced at the end of words and usually makes the vowel long
  • breathe, drive, gave, hate, hope, like, name, site, write
  •  Silent F: none
  • Silent G: G is often not pronounced when followed by an N
  • champagne, feign, foreign, gnaw, reign, sign
  • Silent GH: GH is not pronounced before T and at the end of many words
  • bought, daughter, fight, fright, high, light, might, right, though, thought, through, weigh
  • Silent H: H is not pronounced when following W and in a few other cases
  • ghost, heir, honest, hour, what, when, where, whether, why
  • Silent I: business
  • Silent J: none
  • Changing J to H: Many words from Spanish are used extensively in Spanish speaking areas of the United States such as Southern California. Place names and food names are pronounced with the J sound becoming an H sound
  • La Jolla becomes La Hoya (a community in San Diego, California)
  • Jalapeno becomes halapeno (a hot pepper)
  • Silent K: K is not pronounced when followed by N at the beginning of a word
  • knead, knee, knife, knight, knock, knot, know, knowledge
  • Silent L: L is often not pronounced before D, F, M, K
  • balk, calf, calm, half, salmon, should, talk, would, yolk
  • Changing LL to Y: Many words from Spanish are used extensively in Spanish speaking areas of the United States such as Southern California. Place names are pronounced with the double L sound becoming a Y sound
  • La Jolla becomes La Hoya (a community in San Diego, California)
  • Silent M: mnemonic
  • Silent N: N is not pronounced following M at the end of a word
  • autumn, column, condemn, damn, hymn, solemn
  • Silent O: colonel
  • Silent P: P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the prefix "psych" and "pneu" and in other cases
  • corps, coup, pneumonia, psychiatrist, psychology, psychotherapy, psychotic, receipt
  • Silent Q: none
  • Silent R: none
  • Note: in Boston Massachusetts and surrounding communities the R is dropped in many words.
  • For example: "Park the car in the Harvard yard" becomes "Pak the ca in the Havard yad"
  • Silent S: S is not pronounced before L and a few other cases
  • aisle, apropos, bourgeois, debris, island, isle
  • Silent T: T is not pronounced in the following words
  • asthma, ballet, castle, Christmas, fasten, gourmet, listen, often, rapport, ricochet, soften, thistle, whistle
  • Silent U: U is not pronounced after G and before a vowel
  • colleague, guard, guess, guest, guidance, guide, guilt, guitar, tongue
  • Silent V: none
  • Silent W: W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word followed by an R, in three pronouns, and a few other cases
  • answer, sword, two, who, whole, whom, whose,wrap,  wrist, write, wrong
  • Silent X: faux pas (French origin but used in English)
  • Silent Y: none
  • Silent Z: rendezvous (French origin but used in English)
From YOUR Teacher: Silent Letters

Pronunciation becomes a lot easier if you know which words contain silent letters. The alphabetical list above contains many of the most common words. Now you must be a silent letters expert. Take the following test and find out.
Test: Pronunciation Silent Letters

Study the silent letters information above. For the test questions below choose the correct answer. There are 50 questions. Good luck.
More Tests
 
Additional Information
Study Tips
(Beginner - Listening)

Avoid Ineffective Study Methods. An audio lesson to help you study English more effectively. The English is spoken at 75% of normal speed. Great English study tips.
Click here to visit the lesson page with the written script for this audio program.