This is the first blog post in a three-part series on the relationships between the pronunciation of English words and their spellings. Follow the links for part two of the series on Homophones and part three on the Sound System of American English.
The English language is notable for having a large number of words with strange, unphonetic spelling. At times, it can seem that the spelling of a word has little in common with its pronunciation! For example, the word “knight” has a silent “k” and a silent “gh”, so it’s pronounced “nait”. Certainly, when you’re trying to learn English, it can be difficult or frustrating to try to say a new word, only to find out some of its letters aren’t meant to be pronounced! However, by memorizing some of the most common words that have silent letters, you can avoid many of these difficulties. Many of these words appear in the charts below.
You might be curious about how it happened that many English words came to have such unexpected spelling. A full history of the English language, while extremely fascinating, is beyond the scope of this blog post. The short version is that many English words originate from different languages, such as German, French, Latin, and Greek; these origins are reflected in today’s spelling. Furthermore, English spelling started to solidify around the time the printing press was invented in the 15th century, yet pronunciations continued to develop, causing a divergence between a word’s shifting pronunciation and its static spelling. If you are interested in a humorous and detailed account of the history of English, I recommend reading The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way, by Bill Bryson.
Without further ado, please enjoy this list of words containing silent letters:
Do not pronounce the “b” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| bomb | bom |
| climb | clime |
| comb | com |
| crumb | krum |
| debt | det |
| doubt | dowt |
| dumb | dum |
| lamb | lam |
| limb | lim |
| numb | num |
| plumber | PLUMmer |
| subtle | SUDul |
| succumb | sukUM |
| thumb | thum |
| tomb | toom |
| womb | woom |
Do not pronounce the “c” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| indict | indite |
| muscle | MUSSul |
| scene | seen |
| scent | sent |
| scissors | SIZZers |
Do not pronounce the “ch” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| yacht | yot |
Do not pronounce the “d” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| adjective | ajective |
| adjust | ajust |
| handkerchief | hankerchief |
| handsome | hansome |
| sandwich | sanwich |
| Wednesday | WENSday |
Do not pronounce the “g” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| align | aline |
| assign | assine |
| benign | buhNINE |
| campaign | kamPANE |
| champagne | shamPANE |
| cologne | kolON |
| design | deZAINE |
| feign | fane |
| foreign | FORen |
| gnarl | narl |
| gnash | nash |
| gnat | nat |
| gnaw | naw |
| gnome | nome |
| reign | rain |
| resign | resine |
| sign | sine |
Do not pronounce the “gh” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| borough | boro |
| bough | bow (as in, bend or incline) |
| bright | brite |
| bought | bawt |
| brought | brawt |
| caught | kawt |
| daughter | DAWter |
| dough | doe |
| drought | drowt |
| fight | fite |
| fought | fawt |
| fraught | frawt |
| haughty | hawdy |
| height | hite |
| high | hi |
| knight | nite |
| light | lite |
| naughty | NAWty |
| neighbor | NAYber |
| night | nite |
| right | rite |
| sigh | sai |
| sight | site |
| slaughter | slawder |
| sleigh | slay |
| sought | sawt |
| straight | strayt |
| taught | tawt |
| thorough | thuro |
| through | thru |
| though | tho |
| thought | thawt |
| weigh | way |
| weight | wait |
| wrought | rawt |
Do not pronounce the “h” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| exhausted | eggZAWsted |
| exhibit | eggZIBit |
| ghost | gost |
| heir | air |
| herb | erb |
| honest | onest |
| honor | ONer |
| hour | our |
| spaghetti | spagetti |
| Thai | tie |
| vehicle | vee-I-kull |
Do not pronounce the “k” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| knack | nack |
| knead | need |
| knee | nee |
| kneel | neel |
| knew | noo |
| knife | nife |
| knight | nite |
| knit | nit |
| knob | nob |
| knock | nock |
| knot | not |
| know | no |
| knowledge | naledge |
| knuckle | nuckle |
Do not pronounce the “l” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| calm | kahm |
| chalk | chawk |
| could | coud |
| folk | fok |
| half | haf |
| Lincoln | Lincon |
| palm | pom |
| salmon | SAMon |
| should | shud |
| talk | tok |
| walk | wok |
| would | wud |
Do not pronounce the “n” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| autumn | awtum |
| column | KALum |
| condemn | konDEM |
| damn | dam |
| hymn | him |
| solemn | SALum |
Do not pronounce the “p” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| pneumonia | nuMONia |
| psychiatrist | sai-KAI-uh-trist |
| psychic | SAI-kick |
| psychology | sai-KOL-uh-jee |
| psychotic | sai-KOT-ick |
| receipt | ree-SEET |
Do not pronounce the “s” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| aisle | I-ull |
| debris | deh-BREE |
| Illinois | ill-uh-NOY |
| island | I-lund |
| isle | I-ull |
Do not pronounce the “t” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| apostle | aPOSSul |
| ballet | ballAY |
| bouquet | bouKAY |
| bristle | BRISul |
| buffet | buffAY |
| bustle | BUSSul |
| castle | KASSul |
| Christmas | KRISmis |
| debut | dayBYOO |
| fasten | FASSen |
| fillet | fillAY |
| glisten | GLISSen |
| gourmet | gorMAY |
| hustle | HUSSul |
| jostle | JOSSul |
| listen | LISSen |
| moisten | MOYSSen |
| mortgage | MORgej |
| often | OFen |
| nestle | NESSul |
| rapport | ruPOR |
| rustle | RUSSul |
| soften | SOFen |
| thistle | THISSul |
| whistle | WISSul |
| wrestle | RESSul |
Do not pronounce the “th” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| asthma | AZmuh |
| months | munss |
| clothes | cloze |
Do not pronounce the “w” in the following words:
| Spelling: | Actually Pronounced: |
| answer | ANser |
| awry | uh-RYE |
| playwright | PLAYrite |
| sword | sord |
| toward | tord |
| wrack | rack |
| wrangle | rangle |
| wrap | rap |
| wrapper | rapper |
| wrath | rath |
| wreak | reek |
| wreath | reeth |
| wreck | reck |
| wreckage | reckej |
| wren | ren |
| wrench | rench |
| wrest | rest |
| wrestle | RESS-ul |
| wretch | retch |
| wretched | retched |
| wriggle | riggle |
| wring | ring |
| wrinkle | rinkle |
| wrist | rist |
| writ | rit |
| write | rite |
| writhe | rithe |
| wrong | rong |
| wrote | rote |
| wrought | rawt |
| wrung | rung |
| wry | rye |
Bonus word: “Iron”
The word “iron” doesn’t technically have a silent letter, but people frequently ask me about this word’s pronunciation because it does have some sounds switched around in the middle, and its spelling is unphonetic. “Iron” is NOT pronounced “i-ron” as one would expect; it sounds like “I earn”. For example, the sentence “I earn as much as the iron worker” would sound like, “I earn as much as the ‘I earn’ worker.”
Do you have further questions about American English, or are you interested in accent training? Reach out and contact me!