Softener – this word is interesting because in the word 'soft', we pronounce the T. Soft. But in the word 'soften' or 'softener', the T is silent.
Silent Medial T's
Similarly, the medial \t\ in words like soften, hasten, and fasten was originally pronounced, as the -en was added to base words that were recognizable (soft, haste, fast).
Some verbs with silent “t”—like “soften” and “moisten”—were created when the suffix “-en” was added to an earlier adjective ending in “st” or “ft.” In the case of “fasten,” the ending was added even before the verb came into English from old Germanic languages.
Pronouncing “Clothes” /kl o z/
Pronunciation tips: There is NO “th” in the pronunciation of the word “clothes.” Say the vowel sound /o/ l-o-n-g-er. This is what American listeners are listening for! Put your clothes in the closet.
Most Finns don't know that the letter t in the form "buffet" is silent (and that the letter u is pronounced [y]) and are not sure how to decline this form because Finnish nouns don't end in -t in the singular.
T. T refuses to be audible in ballet, castle, listen, and whistle.
Catch, itch, retch, hatchet, botch etc. The list is huge. They all have different origins, and yet they have the silent 't'. But words like achieve, lecherous, spinach don't have the silent 't'.
Silent H. H is always silent in HONOUR, HOUR, HONEST, HEIR, VEHICLE & VEHEMENT. You don't say it after 'g' in GHOST, GHASTLY, AGHAST, GHERKIN & GHETTO, or after 'r' in RHINOCEROS, RHUBARB, RHYME and RHYTHM. It's normally silent after 'w': WHAT?
There are two different pronunciations of receipt. One is /ri'sit/, where the P is not pronounced, and the other is /'rɛsəpi/, as an alternate spelling of recipe. In that one the T is not pronounced.
Duvet is originally a French word, and it's retained its silent t in English, being pronounced "doo-vay." Originally the French word was dumay, a diminutive of dum, or "down."
The difference in pronunciation is simple; spelling. If I see the word spelled filet on a menu I will pronounce it 'filay'. If it is spelled fillet then it is pronounced 'fillett', hard t. That is because they are two separate words and should not be confused.
' First, let's point out that the T is silent. Christmas, Christmas. So it's the first syllable that's accented. And the CH here represents the K consonant sound.
The letter 'T' in French is fairly straightforward as it is pronounced more or less like the English 'T. ' The difference is that in French, it is pronounced with the tongue against the upper teeth, rather than behind them, as in the English T.
T = D – The D sound, also known as Flap T
When T is between two vowel sounds (A,E,I,O,U) or between a vowel and L or R, it becomes a D sound. It should be a soft, light sound.
In the past, both “an hotel” and “a hotel” were commonly used because English words of French origin beginning with an “H” (such as “hotel”) used to be pronounced without it (so “hotel” would be pronounced just “otel”). Nonetheless, current usage inclines towards using “a”, not “an”, and always pronouncing the “H”.
Today's topic is the silent t in words like listen and whistle. That's right, those t's are absolutely silent. Don't say them. There are two different spelling patterns here to be aware of, the -sten pattern, as in the word listen, and the -stle pattern, as in the word whistle.
The word was borrowed from the French, so it can be pronounced with a silent final 't' as it would be in French.
The /t/ has 4 different pronunciations: 1) a regular /t/ (take), 2) /t̬/ (like a 'd,' as in water), 3) glottal stop /ʔ/ (kitten) 4) become silent (winter).
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Americans don't really say the "t" sound in the middle of words like water, better, and matter. We use what's called a "flap t" in these words. It sounds more like a d.
In all of these the t is silent. There are no exceptions: no words with this spelling in which it is usual to pronounce t. (Compare pistol ˈpɪstl, crystal ˈkrɪstl, etc., with a different spelling.)
The t in "castle" is pronounced. It is not silent. The tin "moisten" is pronounced.
Silent T. The t after s or f and before en stopped being pronounced in the Early Modern period. The t at the end of words like rapport, gourmet, and ballet reflect the French spelling and pronunciation.