Silent Letters

A few letters in English sometimes do not have a sound when we pronounce them in some words. This is a list of silent letters that we can find in this language. However, it is worth noting that, in English, for every rule usually there is an exception, so use these tips as guidelines, but keep in mind that it's possible to have some exceptions.

• Letter A

a) Usually, A is silent when it comes before LLY
E.g. artistically, logically, musically, romantically, stoically

• Letter B

a) Word that ends with MB, the letter B is silent
E.g. limb, crumb, dumb, comb, bomb, thumb, climb, tomb, numb

b) Usually, it is not pronounced when it comes before T, at the end of a root word* (*A root word is the original word in its root form without any prefixes or suffixes attached e.g. doubt is the root word in doubtful, and the ‘ful’ is a suffix.)
E.g. debt, doubt, debtor, doubtful, subtle, subtleness

• Letter C

a) In the combination SC, the letter C is not pronounced
E.g. muscle, scissors, ascent, miscellaneous, fascinate, scenario, scissors

Exceptions: sclerosis, sceptic, sclera.

b) C is usually redundant before the letters K or Q.
E.g. acquaintance, acknowledge, acquiesce, acquit, acquire

• Letter D

a) D is not pronounced in the following common words:
E.g. handkerchief, Wednesday, handsome

b) D is not pronounced in the combination DG
E.g. pledge, dodge, grudge, hedge, bridge

• Letter E

a) the letter E usually is not pronounced at the end of words, but instead it turns the previous vowel to a long sound.
E.g. hope, drive, gave, write, site, grave, bite, hide, hate, name, like, breathe

Exceptions: words with double consonant before e, the previous vowel doesn’t turn to a long sound: giraffe, brunette, cassette, gazelle, difference, different

b) these are common words that we do not pronounce the E:
E.g. every, evening, several, interesting, vegetable, literature, temperature, perhaps 

• Letter G

a) when the letter N comes after G, the letter g is often not pronounced
E.g. champagne, foreign, sign, feign, design, align, cognac
Exceptions: magnet, igneous, cognitive, signature

• Letter GH

a) GH is not pronounced when it comes after a vowel.
E.g. thought, drought, through, thorough, borough, daughter, light, might, sigh, right, fight, weigh, weight, high
Exceptions: generally, the exceptions are compound words: doghouse, foghorn, bighead 

b) GH is sometimes pronounced like F.
E.g. rough, tough, laugh, enough, cough, draught
Exceptions: Examples from rule "a”

• Letter H

a) H is not pronounced when it comes after W

E.g. what, when, where, whether, why

b) H is not pronounced at the beginning of many words (normally, French origin words)
E.g. hour, honest, honor, heir
Exceptions: hill, history, height, happy, hereditary (most other words beginning with h that are NOT of French origin)

c) H is often not pronounced when it comes after C, G or R.
E.g. choir, chorus, ghastly, ghoul, aghast, echo, rhinoceros, rhythm

• Letter I

a) sometimes I is not pronounced after the letter S

E.g. business 

• Letter K

a) K is not pronounced when it comes before N at the beginning of a word.

E.g. knife, knee, know, knock, knowledge, knead, knight

• Letter L

a) L is not pronounced after the vowels A, O and U.
E.g. calm, half, talk, walk, would, should, could, calf, salmon, yolk, chalk, folk, balm
Exceptions: Halo, bulk, sulk, hold, sold, fold, mould

• Letter M

a) at the beginning of the word when followed by the letter N, the letter M is silent

E.g. mnemonic 

• Letter N

a) N is not pronounced when it comes after M at the end of a word.
E.g. autumn, hymn, column, solemn

• Letter O

a) O is not pronounced in these words
E.g. colonel, opossum

• Letter P

a) P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the combinations PS, PT and PN.
E.g. psychiatrist, pneumonia, pneumatic, psychotherapy, psychotic, psychologist, pseudonym, Pterodactyl

b) P is not pronounced in these words
E.g. receipt, corps, coup, cupboard

• Letter PH

a) PH is sometimes pronounced like F.
E.g. telephone, paragraph, alphabet, epiphany, sophomore

• Letter S

a) S is not pronounced before L in the following words:
E.g. island, isle, aisle, islet

b) S is not pronounced in these words
E.g. debris, apropos, bourgeois

• Letter T

a) T is not pronounced in these common words:
E.g. castle, Christmas, fasten, listen, often, whistle, thistle, bustle, hasten, soften, rapport, gourmet, ballet, asthma, ricochet

• Letter U

a) U is not pronounced when it comes after G and before a vowel.
E.g. guess, guidance, guitar, guest, guild, guard

• Letter W

a) W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word when it is before the letter R
E.g. wrap, write, wrong, wring, wreck, wrestle, wrap, wrist

b) W is not pronounced in these words:
Eg. who, whose, whom, whole, whoever, answer, sword, two

• Letter X

a) X is not pronounced in the word faux pas (Faux pas is a word of French origin. It means a “social mistake” or “inconsiderate action in a social situation.)

• Letter Z

a) Z is not pronounced in the word rendezvous (Rendezvous is another word of French origin, meaning “a meeting or appointment at a specified time and place.” Alternatively, it can mean “place of meeting.”)

** There are no words with silent f, j, q, r, v.