AP Inter 1st Year English Communication Skills Silent Letters

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AP Inter 1st Year English Communication Skills Silent Letters

Pronunciation is an important factor in learning English language to speak. There is no one to one correspondence in English because it is not a ‘phonetic’ language, that means we do not pronounce a word in the same way as we have spelled. In the examples given below we can observe that the same letter ‘S’ is pronounced with different sounds.

E.g.

  1. sip /sıp/
  2. sugar /ʃugə(r)/
  3. vision /’vıʒ(ə)n/
  4. mission /’mıʃ(ə)n/

English has borrowed some words from French, Latin, German and other European languages. These words have their eccentric spelling. Some letters are not pronounced. These are called “silent letters”. Sometimes there may be more than one silent letter in some words. So, learner must remember the spellings of the words. In the examples given below we can observe that some letters become silent while uttering the word.

E.g.

  1. Knock /nɒk/
  2. Half /ha:f/
  3. though /ðəυ/
  4. Write /raıt/
  5. Father /’fa:ðə(r)/

Some rules for silent letters

  • The letter B is silent when used after the letter M and before the letter T.
    E.g. lamb, womb, tomb, comb. Doubt, subtle, debt, doubt.
  • The letter C is silent before the letter Z, L and K.
    E.g. Czechoslovakia, muscle, pluck, block
  • The letter D is silent when it is used before the letter N and G.
    E.g. Wednesday, Cadge
  • The letter E is silent when it comes at the end of the word.
    E.g. Bible, mobile, able, cable
  • The letter E is silent if it comes before the letter D in simple past or past participle verb forms.
    E.g. cooked, chained, mailed
  • The letter G is silent when it is used before the letters M, and N.
    E.g. diaphragm, sign, reign
  • The letter H is silent when it comes before the letter O.
    E.g. hour, honest
  • The letter K is silent when it is preceded by the letter N.
    E.g. know, knife, knight

Silent Letters

Pronunciation is an important factor in learning English language to speak. There is no one to one correspondence in English because it is not a ‘phonetic’ language, that means we do not pronounce a word in the same way as we have spelled. In the examples given below we can observe that the same letter’S’is pronounced with different sounds.

E.g.

  1. sip /sıp/
  2. sugar /ʃugə(r)/
  3. vision /’vıʒ(ə)n/
  4. mission /’mıʃ(ə)n/

English has borrowed some words from French, Latin, German and other European languages. These words have their eccentric spelling. Some letters are not pronounced. These are called “silent letters”. Sometimes there may be more than one silent letter in some words. So, learner must remember the spellings of the words. In the examples given below we can observe that some letters become silent while uttering the word.

E.g.

  1. Knock /nɒk/
  2. Half /ha:f/
  3. though /ðəυ/
  4. Write /raıt/
  5. Father /’fa:ðə(r)/

Some rules for silent letters

  • The letter B is silent when used after the letter M and before the letter T.
    E.g. lamb, womb, tomb, comb. Doubt, subtle, debt, doubt.
  • The letter C is silent before the letter Z, L and K.
    E.g. Czechoslovakia, muscle, pluck, block
  • The letter D is silent when it is used before the letter N and G.
    E.g. Wednesday, Cadge
  • The letter E is silent when it comes at the end of the word.
    E.g. Bible, mobile, able, cable
  • The letter E is silent if it comes before the letter D in simple past or past participle verb forms.
    E.g. cooked, chained, mailed
  • The letter G is silent when it is used before the letters M, and N.
    E.g. diaphragm, sign, reign
  • The letter H is silent when it comes before the letter O.
    E.g. hour, honest
  • The letter K is silent when it is preceded by the letter N.
    E.g. know, knife, knight

When learning English, what you see is not always what you hear
Some useful strategies to learn English pronunciation

  • Read aloud and record yourself
  • Listen closely to the music of words
  • Watch English animation movies
  • Always try to communicate in English
  • Make dictionary your friend

Phonetic transcription helps you to pronounce the word correctly and see how the sound of silent letter is dropped.

AP Inter 1st Year English Communication Skills Silent Letters 1

Learning a language is all about the journey and not just the end, so take your time and enjoy the ride!

AP Inter 1st Year English Communication Skills Silent Letters

Task 1: Write the silent letter in the brackets given for each word.
AP Inter 1st Year English Communication Skills Silent Letters 2

Exercise – 1
Underline the silent letters in the following words :

1. saturday – saturday
2. shawl – shawl
3. flight – flight
4. parcel – parcel
5. herb – herb
6. debt – debt
7. scythe – scythe
8. pawn – pawn
9. psalm – psalm
10. lamb – lamb
11. depot – depot
12. length – length
13. hitch – hitch
14. knit – knit
15. alarm – alarm
16. sceptre – sceptre
17. wrap – wrap
18. parlour – parlour
19. dawn – dawn
20. laugh – laugh
21. monarch – monarch
22. earth – earth
23. dough – dough
24. scene – scene
25. debris – debris
26. modern – modern
27. lawn – lawn
28. folk – folk
29. scarf – scarf
30. knight – knight
31. Iron – Iron
32. gourd – gourd
33. gurgle – gurgle
34. bouquet – bouquet
35. align – align
36. alms – alms
37. rhyme – rhyme
38. hour – hour
39. doubt – doubt
40. should – should

AP Inter 1st Year English Communication Skills Silent Letters

41. listen – listen
42. psychology – psychology
43. height – height
44. germ – germ
45. buffet – buffet
46. light – light
47. sight – sight
48. resort – resort
49. rock – rock
50. scissors – scissors
51. neighbour – neighbour
52. rapport – rapport
53. harmony – harmony
54. reign – reign
55. learn – learn
56. scorpion – scorpion

AP Inter 1st Year English Communication Skills Silent Letters

57. debut – debut
58. mirth – mirth
59. wreath – wreath
60. castle – castle

Additional Information

The figure drawn below explains in how many ways the dictionary can help you.
AP Inter 1st Year English Communication Skills Silent Letters 3

You can look up the word in the Dictionary to get the following :

  1. Word-spelling
  2. Parts of speech
  3. Origin of the Word
  4. Pronunciation (Phonetic Transcript with stress)
  5. Synonyms
  6. Usage as a mass noun with 6(i) an example sentence
  7. Usage as in singular with 7(i) an example sentence

Always remember that striving and struggle precede success, even in the dictionary !
– Sara Ban

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