Silent letters are letters that are not pronounced in a word. There are many silent letters in English, including the letter 'e' at the end of a word, the letter 'b' following 'm,' and many, many more. Can you guess which letter is silent in these words?

hope - silent 'e'

comb - silent 'b'

island - silent 's'

bought - silent 'gh'

Here is a list of common letter combinations with silent letters in alphabetical order. This list contains most of the silent letters that give English as a second language students difficulties.

Silent B

B is not pronounced when following M at the end of a word.

climb - I climbed the tree in the park.

crumb - There's a crumb of bread on your lapel.

dumb - That's a really dumb question.

comb - Do you carry a comb with you?

Silent C

C is not pronounced in the ending "scle."

muscle - He's building up muscle with that exercise.

Silent D

D is not pronounced in the following common words:

handkerchief - Adding a handkerchief to your suit provides a touch of class.

Wednesday - I'm not working this Wednesday.

Silent E

E is not pronounced at the end of words and usually makes the vowel long.

hope - I hope to see you soon.

drive - I'll drive the car to Seattle tomorrow.

gave - Jennifer gave him a book for his birthday.

write - Do you write letters anymore?

site - We visited the monument site last week.

Silent G

G is often not pronounced when followed by an N.

champagne - Let's drink champagne!

foreign - She works for a foreign bank.

sign - The sign says 'exit'.

feign - Don't feign that you care!

Silent GH

GH is not pronounced before T and at the end of many words.

thought - I thought about you last week.

through - Let's take a drive through the park.

daughter - My daughter was born in Pisa.

light - There's a beautiful light in the sky.

Silent H

H is not pronounced when following W. Some speakers whisper the H before the W.

what - What did you say?

when - When does the train leave?

where - Where are we going?

H is not pronounced at the beginning of many words. Use the article "an" with unvoiced H. Here are some of the most common:

hour - I'll see you in an hour.

honest - To be honest, this is difficult.

honor - It's an honor to have you over for dinner.

Silent K

K is not pronounced when followed by N at the beginning of a word.

knife - I cut the fish open with a knife.

knee - Bend your knees and jump.

know - Do you know the answer?

Silent L

L is often not pronounced before L, D, F, M, K.

calm - It's a calm day in paradise.

salmon - Let's have salmon for dinner.

talk - Let's talk soon.

should - You should come over next week.

Silent N

N is not pronounced following M at the end of a word.

autumn - It's a beautiful autumn day.

hymn - Open to hymn 25 and let's sing.

Silent P

P is not pronounced at the beginning of many words using the suffix "psych" and "pneu".

psychiatrist - The psychiatrist asked lots of questions.

pneumonia - Pneumonia can be a very dangerous disease.

Silent S

S is not pronounced before L in the following words:

island - We took a ferry to the island.

Silent T

T is not pronounced in these common words:

castle - The castle stood upon the hill overlooking the valley.

fasten - fasten your seatbelts and lets go for a ride.

listen - Listen carefully to what I say.

Silent U

U is not pronounced before after G and before a vowel.

guess - I guess I don't know the answer.

guitar - While my guitar gently weeps.

guest - She's our guest tonight.

Silent W

W is not pronounced at the beginning of a word followed by an R.

wrap - Wrap up the present for Tom.

write - I need to write an essay tomorrow.

wrong - I'm afraid you are wrong.

W is not pronounced with these three pronouns:

who - Who do you know in town?

whose - Whose job is it?

whom - Whom should we ask.