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Learn which letters stay silent in English words and discover practical strategies to remember and master these tricky pronunciation patterns.
Explore our comprehensive pronunciation guides with audio and video examples.
Browse Pronunciation GuidesEnglish spelling includes many letters that aren't pronounced—silent letters that confuse learners and native speakers alike. Understanding why they exist and learning patterns to recognize them will dramatically improve your pronunciation accuracy.
After M: climb, lamb, tomb, bomb, comb, thumb
Before T: debt, doubt, subtle
Rule: B is usually silent when it comes after M at the end of a word or before T.
Before N: knife, know, knowledge, knee, knight, knot, knit
Rule: K is always silent before N at the beginning of words.
Before R: write, wrong, wrap, wrist, wrestle, wreck
In some words: answer, sword, two
Rule: W is silent before R at the beginning of words.
Common words: would, should, could, walk, talk, chalk, calm, palm, salmon, folk, yolk, half, calf
Rule: L is often silent before K, M, or D, especially after vowels A, O, U.
Before N: sign, design, resign, foreign, campaign, champagne
Rule: G is usually silent before N at the end of words (though it reappears in related forms: sign → signature).
Common words: hour, honest, honor, heir, vehicle, exhibition
In combinations: ghost, rhythm, rhinoceros
Rule: H is silent in some words of French origin and in specific combinations.
Before S, N: psychology, pneumonia, psalm, receipt, cupboard
In combinations: raspberry
Rule: P is often silent before S, N, or T in words of Greek origin.
Common words: listen, fasten, castle, whistle, Christmas, often (for some speakers)
Rule: T is often silent before or after certain consonants, especially in -stle, -sten, -ften patterns.
Common words: night, light, fight, through, thought, daughter, caught
Rule: GH is silent after vowels in many words (historical artifact from Old English).
Many silent letters were once pronounced. "Knight" was /kniçt/ in Old English—the K and GH were real sounds!
Silent letters often show a word's origin: "psychology" keeps the Greek PS even though we don't pronounce the P.
Silent letters can reappear in related words:
Create lists organized by the silent letter and its position:
Write the silent letter in a different color or cross it out to reinforce that it's not pronounced.
Always check pronunciation in a dictionary when learning new words. IPA transcriptions show you exactly which letters are silent.
❌ "/knaɪf/" for knife
✅ /naɪf/ (silent K)
❌ "clim-b" /klaɪmb/
✅ "clime" /klaɪm/ (silent B)
❌ "wal-k" /wɔːlk/
✅ "wok" /wɔːk/ (silent L)
❌ "nig-ht" /naɪɡt/
✅ "nite" /naɪt/ (silent GH)
Identify and cross out silent letters in these words:
Practice saying these word pairs with the same pronunciation despite different spellings:
Complete these patterns:
Some words have variation in whether a letter is silent:
Some silent letters vary by accent:
Silent letters are a quirk of English spelling, but they follow patterns you can learn. Focus on common patterns (K before N, B after M, etc.), use visual and memory techniques, and always check pronunciation in dictionaries. With practice, you'll develop an instinct for which letters are likely to be silent, making your English pronunciation more accurate and confident.