Silent Letters

Some letters are written but not pronounced.

Examples

• knife, write, hour, listen

Key rules

• Some letters are written but not pronounced, such as the k in knife and the w in write
• Silent letters often appear in common words such as hour, listen and island
• Learn the spelling and pronunciation together

Common mistakes

• knife pronounced /knaɪf/ with a /k/ → Say /naɪf/ (the k is silent)
• listen pronounced /lɪstən/ with a /t/ → Say /lɪsən/ (the t is silent)

Use cases

• Spelling practice
• Reading aloud
• Pronouncing words in conversation