Silent letters in English: the rules, a list and 60 examples

Silent letters at a glance

Silent letters change with accents and sometimes with the word, so treat these as the common patterns, not a law. If a dictionary and this page disagree, trust the dictionary for your accent.

1. Silent first letters: kn-, wr-, gn-, ps-, pn-

Rule: At the start of a word, the first letter is silent in kn-, wr-, gn-, ps- and pn-. The first letter was pronounced long ago, and the spelling stayed.

Watch out: “Know” and “no” sound the same, as do “write” and “right”.

2. Silent B: after M and before T

Rule: B is silent after M at the end of a word (thumb, comb, climb) and before T in a few common words (doubt, debt).

Watch out: B is not silent in “number”, “combine” or “member”: the M and B are in the middle, and B is pronounced.

3. Silent N: after M at the end

Rule: N is silent after M at the end of a word: autumn, column, damn, solemn.

Watch out: Add -al or -ing, and the N is pronounced: “autumnal”, “damning”.

4. Silent GH: -ight, -ough, -augh

Rule: GH is silent in -ight words (night, light, right) and in many -ough words, but not in all of them. Learn the common ones as groups.

Watch out: Exceptions: GH sounds like F in “laugh”, “enough”, “rough”, “cough” and “tough”. Treat these as separate words to learn.

5. Silent L: -alk, -alm, -alf, -olk

Rule: L is silent before K, M and F in common words: walk, talk, chalk, calm, palm, half, calf, folk, yolk.

Watch out: L is pronounced in “film”, “help”, “golf” and “wolf”. It is silent only in the patterns above.

6. Silent T and D in the middle of a word

Rule: T is silent in -stle and -sten words (castle, whistle, listen, fasten), and in a few French words (ballet, depot, buffet). D is silent in Wednesday, handkerchief, handsome and sandwich (often).

Watch out: “Often” can be said with or without the T. Both are accepted, so choose the one you find easier.

7. Silent H: hour, honest, heir, and after W or G

Rule: H is silent at the start of a few words from French: hour, honest, honour, heir. It is also silent after W (what, when, why) in some accents, and after G or R in some (ghost, rhyme).

Watch out: In American English, “herb” is usually said “erb”; in British English, “herb” has an H.

8. Other silent letters worth knowing

Rule: These show up less often, but you meet them in common words.

Watch out: S in island and aisle, C in muscle and scissors, U in guess and guitar, P in receipt, W in sword and answer. There is no simple rule: learn them as exceptions.

Why does English have silent letters?

English spelling was fixed by printing around 500 years ago, but pronunciation kept changing. Words like “knight” were once said with the K and the GH, and the spelling never caught up. Some words also came from French or Latin with their spelling kept, like “honest” and “debt”. This is why spelling doesn’t always tell you how to say a word.

How to learn silent letters

1. Learn by pattern. When you meet “knowledge”, link it to kn- and add it to the group.
2. Say the word before you read the spelling. Listen to a model, then match the spelling to the sound.
3. Make your own sentences. “I know she wrote the wrong answer.” Each sentence should have two or three silent letters.
4. Record yourself and check that you didn’t say the silent letter, a common mistake with “walk” and “climb”.

Practise the sounds in sentences too: our tongue twisters by sound and linking sounds guides are good next steps, and the TH sound guide covers another hard spelling. An AI tutor can listen and show which words you said wrongly: see how an AI tutor call works.