Hello and welcome to Learn to Read Silent Letter Words.
In this video you'll learn that some letters in words are quiet,
but you still need to know they are there when you spell them.
Many words in the English language have silent letters in them.
Silent letters are letters that you don't pronounce when saying them,
but are there when you write the word.
The reason some letters are silent is because of their origin.
Many English words come from Latin or Greek roots.
Over time, the English language adopted some of these words, and the pronunciation changed.
But, the spelling remained the same or similar.
Let's look at some common words with silent letters in them.
You've learned that the letter, K, makes the /k/ sound.
But, often when it's paired with the letter, N, it is silent.
In other words, we don't pronounce it.
Here are some common words that begin with K, which is silent.
Know
Knew
Knee
Knock
and Knight
As you can hear, the K is not pronounced at all.
We only hear the N sound in these words.
The letter, W, usually makes the /w/ sound.
But, it can also be silent when it is paired with the letter, R,
such as in these commonly used words.
Write
Wrist
Wrap
Wreath
and Wrong
Again, you cannot hear the W at all in these words.
You only hear the R sound.
When paired with the letter, S, the letter, C, is often silent.
Here are some examples.
Scissors
Muscle
Scent
Crescent
Scene
In these words, you clearly hear the S, but never the C.
That's because the letter C is silent.
Very often, when the letter, G, is paired with the letter, N, it is silent.
Let's look at this list of examples.
Sign
Gnome
Design
You don't hear the G at all, do you?
The letter T is another letter that can be silent.
This is especially true when paired with the letter, S.
Look at these examples.
Listen
Whistle
Castle
Here are other common words with other letters that are silent.
The letter, B, is often silent when paired with the letter, M, like in these words.
Lamb
Climb
The letter, D, is silent when paired with the letter, N, as in these words.
Wednesday
Sandwich
The letter, H, is often silent when paired with the letter, C, as in
Choir
Echo
And, N is silent when paired with M, as in these words.
Autumn
Column
The best way to know the pronunciation of words is by looking in a dictionary.
The dictionary has a pronunciation key for each word you look up.
Over time you will learn the spelling and pronunciation of each word.
Keep reading and writing.
And, as always, practice reading and spelling on our fun games.
Until next time, always be clever.