Speaking

Unit 8.5

Lv. 7-8

Words with silent letters

What are we going to learn today?

Correct
pronounciation in English is difficult because around 60% of the
words in English contain at least one silent letter. As
always in English there are no hard and fast spelling
rules, but there are some things we can keep in mind
which can help us when we need to speak to pro-

Analysing silent letters

Let's take a look at some rules for silent letters:
1. The letter B is usually silent when used after the letter M and also before the letter T.
Examples before M: ____________________________________
Examples before T: ____________________________________
2. The letter C is silent when used before the letter Z and sometimes when used before the letter L and
the letter K.
Examples before Z: ____________________________________
Example before L: ____________________________________
Examples before K: ____________________________________
3. The letter D is silent when it appears before the letter N and then also before the letter G.
Example before N: ____________________________________
Example before G: ____________________________________
4. Let's look at the letter E.
If E happens to be at the end of a word, it is generally not pronounced.
Examples: ____________________________________
If E happens to occur right before the letter D in simple past tense or past participle forms of verbs,
E may sometimes not be pronounced.
Examples: ____________________________________
5. The letter G is silent when it is used before the letters M and N.
Examples before N: ____________________________________
Example before M: ____________________________________

6. The letter H is often silent when it precedes the letters E and O, and when it follows the letters G and R.
Examples before A, E, I and O: ____________________________________
Examples after G: ____________________________________
Example after R: ____________________________________
7. The letter K is always silent when it precedes the letter N.
Examples: ____________________________________

Put the following words in the

correct place in the rules above.
able, Bible, block, chained, challenge, comb, Czechoslovakia,
diaphragm, doubt, dragged, ghost,
hallelujah, honest, knife, knight,
knock, know, lamb, muscle, myrrh,
reign, subtle, tomb, tzar, wedge,
Wednesday
None of these rules actually help us to write the words if we havent got a clue how to write them. If weve
read the words beforehand and paid attention to them we might, with the help of these rules, spell them
properly. These rules will help us to pronounce the words properly, however.
Other rules exist. When the letter R is preceded by a vowel (and maybe followed by a consonant, but NOT
by a vowel), it is silent, e.g. car, card, board, lord, swear, etc. If the r is at the end of the word AND is then
followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the r is pronounced, e.g. I swear I saw that car overtake the
truck in the slow lane.

Test Yourself!
How well do you know how to pronounce these words?

apostle
autumn
bustle
champagne
chlorine
chord
circuit
climb
crumb
debt

descend
design
disciple
dumb
fasten
foreign
gnarl
gnash
gnome
handkerchief

hymn
kneel
knuckle
limb
miscellaneous
numb
playwright
plumber
pneumonia
psychologist

receipt
resign
rogue
sandwich
scene
scissors
solemn
thumb
whistle
wrath