Exceptions: Most of the words beginning with H are not silent (remember to use the article “a” with voiced H) For example history, history, hair, happy. The letter K is always silent when it precedes the letter N in a word.
Silent H. H is always silent in HONOUR, HOUR, HONEST, HEIR, VEHICLE & VEHEMENT.
In English pronunciation, a silent letter—a term used informally—is a letter or letter combination of the alphabet that is usually not pronounced in a word. Examples include the b in subtle, the c in scissors, the g in design, the t in listen, and the gh in thought.
What is the origin of the silent 'b' at the end of English words such as lamb, comb, crumb and bomb? WE OWE the silent 'b' to the fact that centuries ago our ancestors pronounced a b-sound: climb was Old English climban, and bomb comes from Italian bomba. The b-sound was lost by about 1300.
K. The silent k in a slew of common words demonstrates a callousness for beginner spellers especially: knee, knife, knight, knit, knob, knock, knot, know, knuckle.
The letter ⟨k⟩ is normally silent (i.e. it does not reflect any sound) when it precedes an ⟨n⟩ at the beginning of a word, as in “knife”, and sometimes by extension in other positions.
Exceptions: Most of the words beginning with H are not silent (remember to use the article “a” with voiced H) For example history, history, hair, happy. The letter K is always silent when it precedes the letter N in a word.
The rule is simple: if a word ends in the letters mb, the b is silent. Lets look at some examples. I already told you the word climb. Some others are thumb, comb, crumb, lamb, limb, bomb, and dumb.
Hair is a noun - Word Type.
In the word, 'scissors', the 'c' is silent.
Many students try to pronounce these Ls, but in all these words, the L is completely silent. In walk, chalk, and talk, the L comes after an A, and the vowel is pronounced like a short O. Half and calf have an AL, too, but the vowel is pronounced like the short A in staff.
Silent L words
The letter L is silent in the words including should, could, would, half, calf, chalk, talk, walk, folk, and yolk.
The e in mother, father and person is a schwa sound.
Silent r. In GB English we only pronounce /r/ if it comes before a vowel sound, so it's silent in CARD, WORK, POUR and MOTHER. In American English, though, all 'r's are pronounced CARD, WORK, POUR and MOTHER.
Silent b is introduced in the word 'lamb'. To help remember this silent letter, there is a story of how the word was originally spelt – lambaz – in old Germanic.
An unpronounced 'w' is most commonly followed by the letter 'r' (wrap, wrist, wrestle, write, wring). These words usually refer to twisting or distorting.
If an “L” is found towards the end of the word, before the letters “f,” “v”, “k” and “m,” but after the letter “a,” then it's usually silent (behalf, calve, walk, almond). In many of these instances, the silent L lengthens the previous vowel sound, which gives the slight impression of the “L” /l/ 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”.
The British pronunciation is "Herbs" with an "H" while American pronunciation is "erbs" without the "H." Quite simple, eh? Just like this simple vinaigrette recipe to go with your herb salad. "Herb" or "erb," it's really your choice.
So we will say “a hit”, “a hat” and “a hot-dog”. So, what about these words that you see in the picture: hour, honest, honor (or honour) and heir (and their derivatives should I add!) ? Well, rejoice! Those are the words with a silent h, which means you can totally ignore it!
Notice, the K is silent.
Why is there a D in fridge but not in refrigerator? As a general rule, a G at the end of a word sounds like the G in flag and hog. Anywhere else in a word, it can sound like either gesture or forget. The G in refrigerator follows this rule.
Restaurant- Silent letters “AU”