English Learning: What Are Silent Letters? Which Sounds to Avoid & When?

Knowledge of the English language and properly communicating in it are very important skills to acquire, especially in an official setup. One of the most common mistakes people make while speaking is when they encounter silent letters.

There are some words in the English language, in which letters are used while writing, but sometimes those letters are not pronounced while speaking the word. These are called silent letters. If you are learning the English language then you must be aware of such silent letters.

Silent B: If the last letter of the word is b and immediately precedes it with m, then b remains silent.

Example- Lamb, Bomb

Similarly, b which comes before t also remains silent in the word.

Example- Doubt, Debt

Silent C: If s comes immediately before C then c remains mostly silent.

Example- Science, Scent

Silent E: If ar comes immediately after E, then e remains silent.

Example- Earnest, Earn, Earthly

Similarly, the e which comes at the end of the words is also mostly silent.

Example- Concede, Exercise, Inaccurate

Silent G: If the first letter of the word starts with G and is immediately followed by n, then only n is pronounced and G remains silent.

Example- Gnash, Gnat

Similarly, if there is n immediately after the g that comes between the words or the last, then g remains unattended.

Example- Design, Consignment

Similarly, when a vowel comes before gh, both g and h remain silent.

Example- Eight, Caught, Right

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Silent H: Some words starting with H, h remains silent.

Example- Honest, Honorable, Hour

Silent K: If K is at the beginning of a word and n comes after it, then k remains silent.

Example- Knife, Knock, Know

Silent L: If l is preceded by a or ou and followed by d, f, k or m, then the pronunciation of l will be silent.

Example- Could, Half, Walk, Balm

Silent N: If the last letter of the word is n and it is preceded by m, then n will remain silent.

Example- Column, Condemn, Autumn

Silent P: If a word contains p and is immediately followed by t, then p will be silent.

Example- Contempt, Receipt

If the first letter of the word is P and immediately followed by s then p will not be pronounced.

Example- Pseudo, Psychology

Similarly, if there is n or t immediately after p, then p will remain silent.

Example- Pneumonia, Ptomaine

Silent T: If f or s is placed immediately before t in a word then t remains unattended.

Example- Whistle, Castle, Listen

Silent W: If the first letter of the word is w and immediately followed by r then w is not pronounced.

Example- Wrist, Wrapper, Write

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