Silent Letters In English (Part 2) | 8 More Rules For Better Pronunciation

Welcome to the second and final part of this silent letter series. If you haven’t seen part one, check it out right here.

In part one we talked about what a silent letter is, why we have silent letters and eight rules that you can use to help you know if a word has a silent letter. In today’s video we look at eight more rules.

And make sure you watch until the end of the video because there will be a revision of all of the rules and a quiz to test your memory. Okay, are you ready? Let’s get started!

Rule #1

The first rule today is about the letter L. The letter L is normally not pronounced when it’s after the vowels A, O and U. Some example words are walk. Half. Calf. Yolk. Could. In all of these words, we are not pronouncing that L sound. The L is silent.

Rule #2

Now let’s look at the letter N. The letter N is normally not pronounced when it’s after the letter M at the end of a word. Some example words are column. Autumn. Solemn. Condemn. Hymn. In all of these words, we are not pronouncing the N. We are just making that /m/ sound. We are just pronouncing the letter M.

Rule #3

The next rule is about the letter P. The letter P is normally not pronounced when it’s at the start of a word which starts with PN, PS or PT. Some example words are pneumonia. Psychology. Pterodactyl. In all of these words, we are not pronouncing the P. It is silent.

Rule #4

The next rule is about the letters PH. The letters PH are normally pronounced as an F sound, as that /f/ sound. Some example words are phone. Physician. Pharmacy. Physical. Pamphlet. In all of these words, the PH letters are being pronounced as an F, as a /f/ sound.

Rule #5

Now let’s look at the letter S. The letter S is normally not pronounced when it’s before an L. Some example words are aisle. Island. Isle. In all of these words, we’re not pronouncing that S sound. It is a silent letter.

Rule #6

Now let’s talk about the letter T. The letter T is not pronounced in these words. Castle. Christmas. Gourmet. Listen. Rapport. In all of these words, we’re not pronouncing that T sound. It is silent.

Rule #7

The next rule is about the letter U. The letter U is often not pronounced when it’s after a G and before a vowel. Some common examples are guard. Guarantee. Guide. Guest. Guess. In all of these words, we’re not pronouncing the letter U. It’s a silent letter.

Rule #8

The last rule for today is about the letter W. The letter W is often a silent letter when it comes before an R at the start of a word. Some common examples are write. Wrote. Wreck. Wrong. Wrap. In all of these words, we’re not pronouncing the W sound. It’s silent. We’re just pronouncing the R sound. The letter W is also silent in these words which we talked about a little bit in the last part of this series. Who. Whole. Answer. Sword. Two. In all of these words, we’re not pronouncing the W – it’s silent.

Revision

You have learned the main general rules about silent letters in English. Now let’s do a quick revision.

The letter B is normally not pronounced after an M at the end of a word. For example, climb. It’s also normally not pronounced before the letter T. For example, debt.

The letter C is normally not pronounced if it’s with the letter S. For example, conscious.

The letter D is normally not pronounced if it’s before an N or a G. For example, Wednesday, grudge.

The letter E is normally silent if it comes at the end of a word. For example, kite. E is also normally silent if it comes before a D with ED verbs or adjectives. For example, annoyed.

G is normally silent when it comes before an N. For example, design.

GH is normally not pronounced if it’s after a vowel. For example, high. GH is also sometimes pronounced as an F sound. For example, cough.

The letter H is normally silent when it’s after a W. For example, what. Sometimes the letter H is not silent when it’s after a W. For example, who. Also, the letter H can sometimes be silent when it’s at the beginning of a word. For example, hour.

K is normally silent when it’s before the letter N. For example, know.

The letter L is normally not pronounced after the vowels A, O and U. For example, walk.

The letter N is normally silent when it comes after the letter M at the end of a word. For example, condemn.

The letter P is often silent when it comes at the start of words which start with PN, PS and PT. For example, psychology.

The letters PH are often pronounced as an F. For example, paragraph.

The letter S can be silent when it comes before the letter L. For example, island.

The letter T is not pronounced in many words such as castle and Christmas.

The letter U is often silent when it comes after a G and before a vowel. For example, guide.

And the last rule is about W. W is often a silent letter when it’s pronounced at the start of a word before the letter R. For example, write. And the letter W can also be silent in many words such as who.

Quiz

Now you know most of the basic rules of silent letters in English. Now let’s have a little quiz to test how much you remember. I will show you ten words and I want you to pronounce them correctly.

Number one. Debt. Debt. Number two. Know. Know. Number three. Walk. Walk. Number four. Autumn. Autumn. Number five. Guide. Guide. Number six. Write. Write. Number seven. Design. Design. Number eight. Island. Island. Number nine. Psychology. Psychology. Number ten. Conscious. Conscious.

Okay you can see now that the letters in red are silent letters. That means in all of these words, you don’t need to pronounce these letters. Comment down below and let us know how many words you pronounced correctly.

Conclusion

That is the end of this series on silent letters. If you want us to make a series on any other topic, please comment down below and let us know.

If you haven’t checked out our English pronunciation course, go and check it out right now. In this course you will learn to pronounce every sound of English like a native speaker. You will also learn to reduce your accent which will help native speakers understand you more easily. The link is in the description below.

If you’re interested in learning about 20 words that you may be saying incorrectly, check out this video right here. If you’re learning vocabulary, tenses, grammar, go to our website at englishunderstood where we have eBooks on all of these topics. Or you can click the link in the description below.

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