Silent letters

When it matters

Ukrainian and Russian spelling is close to pronunciation: if you can read a word, you can usually say it. English spelling is not like that. It was fixed several hundred years ago, and pronunciation has changed a great deal since then. The k in knee and the gh in night were once pronounced; today they are only written. If you read such words letter by letter, listeners may not recognise them, and you may not recognise them when you hear them. The good news is that most silent letters follow a small number of patterns.

How it works

A silent letter is a letter that is written but not pronounced. The main patterns:

• k before n at the start of a word: know /nəʊ/, knife, knee, knowledge.
• w before r: write /raɪt/, wrong. Also in a few single words: answer, two, who.
• b after m at the end of a word, and before t: climb /klaɪm/, comb, thumb, debt /det/, doubt.
• g before n: sign /saɪn/, design, foreign. In related words the g often returns: signature /ˈsɪɡnətʃə/.
• gh after a vowel: night /naɪt/, daughter, eight, high. In a few words gh is /f/ instead: laugh, enough, cough.
• h at the start of a few words: hour /ˈaʊə/, honest, honour. In most words h is pronounced: house, happy.
• l in -alk, -alf and -alm, and in could, would, should: walk /wɔːk/, talk, half, calm.
• t in -sten and -stle, and in Christmas: listen /ˈlɪsn/, castle. In often both /ˈɒfn/ and /ˈɒftən/ are correct.
• n after m at the end of a word: autumn /ˈɔːtəm/, column.
• Single words to learn one by one: island /ˈaɪlənd/, Wednesday /ˈwenzdeɪ/, receipt /rɪˈsiːt/, psychology /saɪˈkɒlədʒi/, cupboard /ˈkʌbəd/, guess, guitar, build, muscle /ˈmʌsl/.

Final e is also silent in words like make, hope and time, but it has a job: it tells you that the vowel before it says its name, as in hat and hate.

In British English the letter r is silent after a vowel unless another vowel follows: car /kɑː/, park /pɑːk/, water /ˈwɔːtə/. When the next word starts with a vowel, the r comes back to link the words: far away /ˌfɑːr əˈweɪ/, water is /ˈwɔːtər ɪz/. American English pronounces every written r: /kɑːr/, /ˈwɔːtər/, usually with a flapped t in water. Both accents are correct. Choose one and use it consistently.

Why does English spelling keep these letters? Partly history, and partly because they link words in the same family: sign and signature, muscle and muscular /ˈmʌskjələ/, autumn and autumnal, where the letter is pronounced. Seeing the family helps you remember the spelling.

Practice words

Common mistakes

• ✗ /knəʊ/, /knaɪf/, /ˈlɪstən/
  ✓ /nəʊ/, /naɪf/, /ˈlɪsn/
  In Ukrainian and Russian you pronounce what you see, so the reflex is to read every letter. In English, check the transcription of any word with kn, wr, mb, gn or stle.
• ✗ a hour, a honest man
  ✓ an hour, an honest man
  A or an depends on the first sound, not the first letter. Hour begins with a vowel sound, so it takes an; see the lesson on articles.
• ✗ /ˈaɪslənd/, /ˈwednesdeɪ/
  ✓ /ˈaɪlənd/, /ˈwenzdeɪ/
  These two are among the most frequent reading errors. Wednesday has only two syllables in normal speech.
• ✗ a strong rolled р in car, park, mother
  ✓ British /kɑː/, /pɑːk/, /ˈmʌðə/, or American /kɑːr/, /pɑːrk/, /ˈmʌðər/
  Neither accent uses the rolled Ukrainian or Russian р. In British English the r after a vowel disappears; in American English it is a soft sound with the tongue curled back, not touching anything.
• ✗ /rɪˈsiːpt/, /ˈkʌpbɔːd/
  ✓ /rɪˈsiːt/, /ˈkʌbəd/
  The p in receipt and cupboard is silent, and cupboard has a weak second syllable. Words you see every day in shops and kitchens are worth getting right.

Try it