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Ww/E3.1
Ww/E3.2
Silent letters
Silent letters are letters that can’t be heard when the word is spoken. There are silent letters in
some English words because over hundreds of years we’ve changed how we pronounce those
words but kept the old spelling. The spelling tells us how the word used to be pronounced: eg in
medieval times, people used to sound out the letter k in the word knock.
Below are some examples of words with silent letters. Can you think of any others?
Silent n
Silent g
Silent b
Autumn
sign
thumb
damn
resign
doubt
column
foreign
plumber
Silent k
Silent t
Silent h
knock
listen
hour
know
mortgage
ghost
knee
watch
honest
Silent w
Silent l
Silent u
wrist
half
guess
wrote
calm
guard
wrong
talk
tongue
Sometimes we can forget to include letters when they can’t be heard in words or if they are
difficult to hear when we say the word. One way to remember the spelling of words with silent
letters is to stress the silent letter when you say the word to yourself. Break up the word and
decide how you to say it to yourself to help you remember the spelling: eg there’s a silent d in
‘Wednesday’, so you could break it up as We-d-nes-day.
Choose some words with silent letters and try breaking them up in this way to help you remember
the silent letter.
© BBC 2011