Silent Letters in English

Quick Answer: Silent letters are letters you write but do not pronounce, like the k in knife, the w in write, the b in climb and the gh in night. Most follow patterns: kn and wr at the start of words, mb at the end, and gh before t. Learn these patterns plus a short list of everyday words like Wednesday, island and receipt.

Key takeaways

• Initial kn and gn drop the first letter: know, knee, gnome. Initial wr drops the w: write, wrong.
• Final mb drops the b (climb, thumb) and final mn drops the n (autumn, column).
• Silent letters often come back in related words: sign and signature, autumn and autumnal, bomb and bombard.
• Final silent e changes the vowel before it: hat and hate, kit and kite.
• Hour, honest, honor and heir start with a vowel sound, so they take an: an hour.
• Could, would and should have no l sound; they rhyme with good.

If your first language is spelled phonetically, like Turkish, Spanish or Italian, you will want to pronounce every letter. In English, that leads to mistakes like saying the k in know or the b in comb.

Why silent letters exist

Hundreds of years ago, many of these letters were pronounced. The k in knight was spoken in Old English. Over time, the sounds disappeared, but spelling was fixed by printing and dictionaries. Other silent letters come from Latin or Greek, like the p in psychology, or from French, like the h in hour.

Silent letters by pattern

Silent K: kn at the start

Word	Sounds like
know	no
knife	nife
knee	nee
knock	nock
knowledge	nowledge
knit	nit

Silent W: wr at the start, and some other words

• write, wrong, wrist, wrap, wreck
• who, whose, whole, answer, sword, two

In who and whole, the w is silent and the sound starts with h.

Silent B: mb at the end, and bt

• climb, comb, thumb, lamb, bomb, tomb
• debt, doubt, subtle

Be careful: in climbing and combing the b stays silent, but in number and member the b is pronounced because it is not at the end of the word.

Silent GH

• night, light, right, high, though, daughter, thought, through

Sometimes gh sounds like f: enough, laugh, cough, tough.

Silent G: gn

• sign, design, foreign, gnome, champagne

The g comes back in signature and signal.

Silent H

• At the start: hour, honest, honor, heir
• After w: what, when, where, which (in most accents)
• After g or r: ghost, rhythm, rhyme

Because hour starts with a vowel sound, we say an hour, not a hour. See a, an and the.

Silent L

• walk, talk, chalk
• calm, palm, half, calf
• could, would, should
• salmon, folk, yolk

Silent T

• listen, castle, whistle, fasten
• often (both pronunciations are correct)
• Christmas, mortgage
• ballet, buffet (French words)

Silent P

• psychology, psychiatrist, pneumonia, receipt, cupboard

Silent N: mn at the end

• autumn, column, hymn, condemn

Again, the n comes back in related words: autumnal, columnist.

Silent U

• guess, guest, guitar, build, biscuit, tongue

Silent D

• Wednesday (always silent)
• handsome, sandwich, handbag (often dropped in natural speech)

Silent C: sc

• science, scene, muscle, scissors

The magic silent E

The most common silent letter is the e at the end of a word. You do not pronounce it, but it changes the vowel before it.

Without e	With silent e
hat	hate
kit	kite
hop	hope
cut	cute
not	note

Understanding this pattern also helps with spelling. Read our full English spelling rules.

Silent R in British English

In standard British English, r is usually not pronounced after a vowel unless another vowel follows: car, hard, water, mother. In most American accents, the r is pronounced. Both are correct. See British vs American English.

Tricky everyday words

Word	Common mistake	Correct
Wednesday	wed-nes-day	WENZ-day
island	is-land	EYE-lund
receipt	re-ceipt with p	ri-SEET
salmon	sal-mon with l	SAM-un
colonel	co-lo-nel	KUR-nul
clothes	clo-thes	clohz or clohthz
comfortable	com-for-ta-ble	KUMF-tuh-bul

Silent letters that change meaning

Some silent letters help you tell apart words that sound the same. These pairs are homophones: they sound identical but have different spellings and meanings.

• know and no: I know the answer. No, thank you.
• knight and night: The knight rode his horse. Good night.
• write and right: Please write your name. Turn right.
• whole and hole: I ate the whole pizza. There is a hole in my sock.
• knew and new: I knew her at school. I bought a new phone.

When you listen, context tells you which word the speaker means. When you write, the silent letter shows the meaning, so it is worth learning these pairs carefully.

Common learner mistakes

• Pronouncing the k in know. Know and no sound exactly the same.
• Pronouncing the l in could, would and should. They rhyme with good.
• Saying the b in doubt and debt. Say dout and det.
• Saying the gh in daughter. Say DAW-ter.
• Saying a hour or a honest man. Use an because the h is silent.

How to learn silent letters

1. Learn by pattern. Group kn words, mb words and gh words together.
2. Listen before you read. Hear a word in audio first, then see the spelling.
3. Check a dictionary with audio whenever a word looks strange.
4. Practice with sentences: I know the knight knocked on the door at night.

These words are especially tricky for speakers of phonetic languages. If that is you, read about English sounds that are hard for Turkish speakers and our general pronunciation tips.

Practice quiz

Which letter is silent?

1. knee
2. thumb
3. listen
4. honest
5. half
6. wrist
7. psychology
8. autumn

Answers: 1 k, 2 b, 3 t, 4 h, 5 l, 6 w, 7 p, 8 n.

Practice with audio

Silent letters are easier when you hear words, not just read them. The free LearnLingo course plays the audio for new vocabulary, so you learn the right pronunciation from the start.

People Also Ask

Why does English have silent letters?

Many silent letters were once pronounced, but pronunciation changed while spelling did not. Others came from Latin, Greek or French spellings that English kept.

What is the most common silent letter in English?

The silent e at the end of words like make, time and hope is the most common. It usually changes the sound of the vowel before it.

Is the k in knife silent?

Yes. In words that begin with kn, such as knife, know, knee and knock, the k is silent and you only pronounce the n.

Is the t in often silent?

Both pronunciations are correct. Many speakers say often without the t, while others pronounce it. Dictionaries list both.

Related Reading

• English Spelling Rules
• English Pronunciation Tips for Learners
• English Sounds That Are Hard for Turkish Speakers
• British vs American English